On Fate's Hand
by Railgun14
Summary: [AU] In another world of kingdoms, knights and wars, Aizawa Izuku was an apprentice tactician heading home after her completed fieldwork when she was attacked by bandits and left to die. On fate's design, she was found & rescued by the sole survivor of a clan that the world mistakenly dubbed as a savage. A grand quest begins. (Eventual Katsuki X FEM Izuku X Shouto)
1. Prologue Fall

PROLOGUE

FALL

* * *

 **JOURNAL NO. 13**

 **PROPERTY OF AIZAWA IZUKU**

 **Entry #1 Year xxxx, Summer, Day xx**

 _As this is a start of another journal, I will once again write an introduction of myself as I usually do in every journal I happen to write into. It was a suggested action by my father in the off-chance event that I somehow critically injure my head enough to cause memory loss because, according to him, my clumsiness is first class so it was better to prepare a contingency plan just in case. It's ridiculous but my father can be very convincing if he wants to. And paranoid. And overprotective. But just so you know, I'm not that clumsy. There were just extenuating circumstances that made me look clumsy like a stubborn rock on the road or a step that was invisible until I missed it. I'm really not clumsy. Maybe._

 _I'm rambling again. Sorry. I really have a bad habit of rambling or muttering about things. I should fix it but- I think I'll just stop and introduce myself now._

 _I am Aizawa Izuku, the only daughter of the noble house of Aizawa under the rule of the monarch of Yuuei. My mother, Aizawa Inko, is a proud noblewoman who heads the household with a loving and kind hand. My father, Aizawa Shouta, is the head of our noble house and a close adviser of Yuuei's king Yagi Toshinori commonly called by the alias of All Might, a respected king who was hailed as one of the strongest generals in history._

 _Currently, I am quite far from home. For the past few months, I've been travelling with a mercenary group to accomplish the required fieldwork to become a full-fledged tactician. Recently, I have completed it. I am now ready to return home to show my progress and officially get the title I have now earned._

 _Hopefully, this will assuage my mother's worries and she won't be as opposed to me entering the military anymore. She didn't take it well when I announced that I want to enroll in the kingdom's tactician school. She almost did stop me until my father convinced her otherwise. She'd rather have me at home and practice my etiquette as a noble lady. She wanted me to safely wait for a proper husband that will sweep me off my feet for a noble marriage into noble family life. I didn't want it. I wanted freedom and adventure and not the security and glamour of nobility. Fortunately, my father saw potential in my analytical abilities and agreed to send me to school which is quite a surprise even for me knowing how overprotective he is. When I asked him why, he answered that he doesn't want to be a father who clips his children's wings._

 _Writing this makes me wonder how they are doing back at home. I should probably write them a letter soon._

 _I also have unique abilities I inherited from my parents but I'll be reserving that for another entry. I need to go now or I'll run out of daylight before I reach Hosu._

* * *

I closed my journal and put it back in my bag, squeezing it barely with the other contents of the bag. The bag would probably be a pain to carry but I can't shirk on my preparations. I'll be travelling alone for the next few weeks so I can't go and forget anything important. I better check it again just in case.

Food for a few days including a special lunch box from Lunch Rush. Check.

A few change of clothes. Check.

Soap and other products for feminine hygiene. Check.

A kit of medical supplies. Check.

A few books about tactics and other few topics. Check.

Logbooks for official records of every job as required. Check.

Journals and maps. Check.

Empty parchments and stationary supplies. Check.

Now, I'm ready.

"Izuku, my little green bean!" Uncle Hizashi, as he insisted I call him, strolled his way to me. He then stopped and scrutinized my appearance. "Boots, a new travelling attire, a long robe and an almost bursting travelling bag. Looks like you really prepared. Do you really want to split up with the group here and travel on your own, green bean? We're near bandit territory. Should I have one of my boys accompany you to town?"

I gave my best reassuring smile at the man. "I'll be fine, Uncle Hizashi."

Uncle Hizashi just silently stared at me seemingly deciding if he should seriously believe me or not.

Internally, I despaired at the overprotectiveness of the people around me. I know they mean well but sometimes it made me insecure just how vulnerable I look to provoke those reactions from them. Was it my poofy green hair? Was it the freckles on my checks? Was it my eyes? Or was it this baby fat on my face that I can't seem to lose? I'm already sixteen for goodness sake!

Anyway, this blonde man in front of me was the leader of the mercenary group I served during my fieldwork, Yamada Hizashi. Apparently, he was a close colleague of my father back when they both served the kingdom as knights. The both of them had strong reputations as knights though the path they travelled a few years after couldn't be any more different. My father married and assumed the leadership of our house while Uncle Hizashi, being the second son of his family, decided to become a mercenary and travel around instead. He said that things were too formal as a knight and working as a mercenary was a lot easier. Long story short, he took one look at me and _he decided_ that he will be my favorite uncle and I'll be his adorable niece. During the first month, I couldn't stop blushing in embarrassment every time he called me green bean. He called me that a lot in front of his subordinates. His subordinates usually chuckled every time it happened while I wanted to hibernate in a hole forever. It was embarrassing but time passed and I got used to it. I got used to the nickname, I got used to the chuckles and I grew closer to the silly group of men I served under.

Then finally, Uncle Hizashi sighed. "All right. I'll trust that 'I'll be fine' of yours." He then opened his arms wide and gestured for a hug which I happily reciprocated. He hugged me tight and gave me a small peck on the forehead. "I'm gonna miss you, green bean."

I smiled at him as he released me. "I'm going to miss you too."

He smiled back one last time and then he scrambled up to his horse with his men.

"Give my regards to your mother and father. And write me when you reach town."

"I will."

I waved goodbye and I started walking towards the other direction. However, the good byes weren't finished yet.

"If you're not working on a job, feel free to join us again, green bean. That brilliant brain of yours will be always welcome on the team!"

I immediately flushed at the compliment and I felt a sense of accomplishment surging through my chest. I cheerfully waved back at the men. "Thank you!"

Then his subordinates just had to give their two cents in.

"Be careful out there, Izuku!"

"Don't trip on rocks!"

"Watch out for puddles!"

"Don't get anywhere near cliffs!"

"Avoid stairs at all costs!"

"Don't break any of your bones!"

Dear mother earth, if you have any mercy left for me please just swallow me whole.

* * *

It's been a few hours since I said goodbye to Uncle Hizashi and I've walked quite a distance. I've only tripped ten times during the walk. Ten times but it was still a vast improvement in my case. I'm still not through the mountain yet though. I took out the map from my bag and checked the location of Hosu Town again. I've wanted to do this for quite a while now. It was fun travelling in a group but there was just this peaceful feeling when you travel alone. This time I'll be able to explore the town as much as I like. The first time I visited Hosu was for a fast supply run so I didn't get to explore the town that much. Hopefully, this time it would be a more relaxed visit.

"What a brave little lady. Travelling on your own, sweetheart?"

I tensed up at the gruff voice behind me. Then I heard others snickering. One, two, three, four and another man behind me. The unkempt look and the knives on their hands told me everything I needed to know. Mountain bandits.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Cat got your tongue?"

I had no time to answer him. My mind was working on overdrive and my sight was roaming among the men. Three men were a bit buff. They don't look fast. Another was fit but he doesn't look like the type that could take a punch and stay conscious. Then I glanced at the man behind me. He was snickering like the other men but there was something different about him. There was an aura surrounding him, a dense fog usually invisible to the naked eye except mine. A quirk user. I cursed my luck. I could tell he was one but I couldn't tell exactly what his quirk was. He doesn't look that strong though compared to Uncle Hizashi or even his subordinates. The others looked half trained. However, I'm clearly at a disadvantage here. I'm outnumbered and there was an unknown factor behind me. Push comes to shove, I could use the quirk I inherited from my father to erase that bandit's quirk but it won't be enough. I simply don't have enough strength to take them all on. I made up my mind. Escape and run.

Then I made my first move.

The thin one yelped as I jammed my foot on a very sensitive part of his biology. The other three immediately moved but, as expected, they were slow. I dodged every strike and every slash they gave me. Then I grabbed one of the arms coming at me. I took advantage of his unsteady footing and slammed his body to the others. The three of them fell to the ground. One actually lost his grip on his weapons and it slid across the ground towards me. I immediately picked the knife. Then I felt movement behind me. I felt the certain chill that I usually feel whenever someone activates his or her quirk near me.

When dealing with a quirk user, the best way to do it was apprehend or defeat them before they could actually activate or use it and next was counter it with an effective quirk. I did both. I snapped my head around and turned my gaze towards the man simultaneously activating my erasure quirk. The bandit looked at his hands confused probably wondering why his quirk hasn't activated yet. I took his moment of confusion and stabbed a knife on his thigh. I simply can't have him running after me. He'll be difficult to deal with once my back's turned on him.

I finally got my chance. One was unconscious, the other three was on the ground on a tangle of limbs and the other one was nursing an injury on his leg. I quickly sprinted away and ran as fast as I could. I focused on running until I heard angry voices behind me. The other three must have recovered. In a bad case of decision making, I snapped my head around to glance at my pursuers.

Then the ground crumbled beneath my feet.

Lesson learned: When running, the front's more important than the back.

* * *

 **My first attempt at a BNHA fanfic.**

 **Feel free to favorite, follow and review!**

 **See you guys next chap!**


	2. Chapter 1 Awake

_**Flashbacks are italicized.**_ **Current events are not.**

* * *

CHAPTER 1

AWAKE

* * *

 **(4 years old Aizawa Izuku, 12 years ago, Aizawa Manor, 3** **rd** **Biggest Bedroom)**

 _The tuft of green hair immediately hid itself under the white covers as Aizawa Shouta opened the door and entered the room. The raven-haired man crossed the room and sat on the huge bed of his usually affectionate daughter who was being elusive towards him at the moment. His gaze softened at the big bulge under the white covers. He'll have to coax her out at this rate. And so he began._

" _You know, I missed my only daughter today. She usually comes to see me at my office every night so I waited and waited and waited again but she never came."_

 _The covers shifted._

" _I came to see her but it seems she doesn't want to see me. I think she doesn't even want to talk to me anymore."_

 _The covers shifted again and this time there was a sniffle and whimper._

" _I guess she must hate me now."_

 _The second the sentence left his mouth, the covers flew to reveal a green haired little girl with tears pooling her big eyes and teardrops on her cheeks. Said pint-sized human immediately tackled her father, her arms firmly around the man's neck._

" _Not true! Tha' not true!" She bawled. "I was a bad girl… I got into trouble… I hurt someone… I was bad cause I hurt someone… but… but… I didn't want Papa to know because Papa… might… Papa might…*sob* ha-hate meee… but I didn't wanna lie because I love Papa… but then… Papa will know and… Papa will hate meee… I didn't want Papa to hate meee…"_

 _Shouta just sighed in relief as he held his daughter securely against him. He rubbed circles on Izuku's back to try and calm her down but it seemed that his little girl still had a lot of tears to pump out even though she'd been crying since hours ago._

 _After a while, the girl calmed down and Shouta broke the hug and placed her on his lap still with his arms around her. He looked down at his daughter and he struggled to keep his lips from twitching into a smile. Only his daughter could look this adorable despite being the pint-size little mess that she was with her glassy reddened eyes, tear stains on her cheeks and the little pout on her lips._

" _So will you tell me what happened now, Izuku?"_

 _Tears started to prickle on Izuku's eyes again so it was Shouta's cue to reassure her._

" _Trust your Papa, Izuku."_

 _The girl sniffled and tried to stop her tears with every will power she had as she understood her father's words. And said father found the sight very adorable._

" _I wanted to go to the castle greenhouse to keep my promise to Mr. Toshi and-"_

" _Mr. Toshi? Who?" Shouta interjected._

" _I met him yesterday. He was really kind and he played with me all afternoon. He told me to call him Uncle Toshi but I didn't because I don't think we're related. He had blonde hair and my hair is green and Mama's hair is green and Papa's hair is black so I don't think we're related. I know Papa told me not to talk to strangers but Mr. Toshi is really nice and he played with me and he laughs and smiles a lot so he is not a bad stranger. He told me he works in the castle so he must be slacking when I met him cause he wasn't working and-"_

 _Shouta's eyebrow twitched as he deduced who the stranger 'Mr. Toshi' actually was. Really. The audacity of that man. How dare he play with his daughter when he couldn't? He mentally noted to give the man extra paperwork tomorrow and to discuss genetics and relations to his daughter soon._

" _Izuku, tell me what happened next."_

" _Oh. Sorry for rambling again, Papa. Okay. I wanted to go to the greenhouse but Papa, you said not to go to places alone so I asked Hii-kun to come with me."_

" _Hii-kun?" Shouta scanned his brain on who could that 'Hii-kun' be. His daughter was usually polite towards adults so she wouldn't normally make up nicknames for them. It was probably another kid. Someone his daughter met and played with. "Hitoshi? Shinsou Hitoshi? Our retainer's seven year old son?"_

" _Un." Izuku nodded. "So we both headed to the greenhouse but I got clumsy again and I tripped and…"_

 _Shouta noticed how his daughter's eyes went downcast. He immediately knew that's when the trouble started so he let his daughter continue._

" _I bumped into someone and I made the man drop a bottle of red juice. I said sorry but he still got angry. He was about to grab me but Hii-kun stopped him so he got angry at Hii-kun too. He grabbed Hii-kun on the neck then his hands started smoking. I think he was using his quirk and... Then Hii-kun told me to run but I didn't want to leave him. He looked like he was in a lot of pain so I didn't wanna leave him. I wanted to save him so I bit the man's other arm but he just flung me away."_

 _Someone just warranted his own death sentence and Shouta would make sure it happens. He didn't and couldn't miss the bandages on his daughter's head, arms and legs._

" _I think I hit my head on the ground because it hurt and I started to see something strange. There was a fog around the man and Hii-kun. It was dense and white. I saw that the man's hands was still smoking and it's really hurting Hii-kun. I wanted it to stop then suddenly the fog around the man disappeared and he dropped Hii-kun."_

 _A fog around a person? A quirk user? Did his daughter just gained the ability to see if someone was quirkless or not? Then the fog disappearing when she wanted it too, did she perhaps also inherit his quirk?_

" _You also have it too, Papa." His daughter's voice broke him out of thoughts. "But yours' is different. It's blue and it's really, really thick unlike the man."_

 _That confirmed it. His daughter could see something others couldn't and maybe with a few tests they could confirm if it only appears on quirk users or not. But that had to be dealt with later. Izuku wasn't finished with her story just yet._

" _Then what happened, Izuku?"_

" _I saw burn marks on Hii-kun's neck and I got really angry. I wanted to hurt the man. I wished that rocks would hit him and then…"_

 _Shouta held his daughter closer as she choked and began to cry again._

" _It happened. The rocks on the ground flew and it started hitting the man and… I think I finally got my quirk but…but… I only used it to hurt someone… I just used my quirk to hit someone, Papa."_

 _Little Izuku's tears fell once again and understanding shined on Shota's eyes. His child was just practically like her mother. Too loving, too gentle and too kind for the kind of world they live in. And it seemed like she also inherited her mother's quirk albeit a variation or mutation of it._

" _I think my quirk also got upset with me, Papa. It hurt me when I was using it. My head hurt a lot and I got dizzy and then I couldn't stay awake anymore. It got angry I hurt someone, Papaaa." Izuku bawled._

 _Shouta frowned. Using her mother's quirk hurt her? Some kind of backlash? Does it mean it'll be dangerous for her if she used it again? Shouta looked at his daughter again. Then again, that could be dealt with properly later. Now, he better calm his daughter down._

" _Izuku, a quirk doesn't get angry or upset." He reassured._

" _It doesn't?" The little girl stopped crying and looked up at him expectantly._

" _It doesn't."_

" _But I hurt someone with my quirk."_

" _You also hurt him when you bit him."_

 _Tears started pooling on Izuku's eyes again. That wasn't supposed to come out that way. Shouta groaned._

" _Why did you bite him, Izuku? Why did it ever cross your mind to hurt him?"_

" _He was hurting, Hii-kun. I wanted him to stop. I wanted Hii-kun back."_

" _That's right." Shouta hugged his daughter close. "Sometimes when we had to protect ourselves and the ones we want to protect, there will be times when we had to hurt someone to protect them. I wanted to keep this from you for as long as I could but, Izuku, this world is not that kind and more so the people living in it. "_

" _So there are bad people like in the stories?"_

" _Yes, but that is enough for now. I'd like to keep you innocent of those things for as long as I could. You understand me right, Izuku?"_

 _Hesitantly, the girl nodded. "So I'm not in trouble? No one's in trouble?"_

" _There is someone in trouble." Especially the suicidal walking dead man that hurt his daughter. "But don't worry about that, Izuku. It's not you or your friend."_

" _So you don't hate me, Papa? You still love me?"_

 _At the worried question of his child, Shouta sighed and hugged his precious bundle tight. He gave her a tender kiss on the forehead. He wasn't one with words but he hoped his actions would carry his feelings more than any words could ever do._

* * *

( **Through the eyes of 16 years old Aizawa Izuku, Present Day, Unknown Location)**

"Oi, if you're fucking awake then open your fucking eyes already."

I groaned as the gruff voice rang on my head. My head throbbed and I felt pain all over my body.

"Oi"

The voice demanded again. Then suddenly I felt something slimy slide over my cheek. Now, that got me to open my eyes. I sat up and then my eyes roamed to my side.

"Ahhh!"

"Shut your fucking mouth, woman. You're blowing my fucking eardrums off!"

Then I turned my head to the voice.

"Ah!"

"And now you're fucking scared of me too?!"

How could I not be?! On my left was a red reptile with wings on its back. It was the size of a small dog and it was looking up at me with expectant eyes and its red tongue was out dripping with saliva. It was the thing that licked me. It looked like a baby wyvern but it kinda looked a bit different. For one, wyverns are more slender and this one was fat? I think its scales looked harder and thicker too. It also had a horn on its head, something wyverns never had. More importantly, it had teeth that could easily bite off my arm!

On my right was a boy my age. Normally one would think that something or, more accurately, someone of my own species wouldn't scare me but this… person was different. His state of dress and the marks on his body clearly screamed _mountain tribe._ I've only heard of them but most people said they were savages. They said they were barbaric and uncultured people who refused to settle in one place like the rest of the civilization, preferring to move from one location to another. Mothers used them to scare children to sleep. Stories about them always depicted their uncontrollable rage and bloodthirsty violence.

More importantly, the boy was a quirk user and strong one at that. The aura hugging his body was orange, a very, very thick orange, almost red. His aura was very dense almost as dense as my father's and Uncle Hizashi's and they were two of the most powerful quirk users I know.

It was an unknown predator and an unknown possible murderer! People! I had every right to be scared!

I stared at the boy speechlessly and I just knew that I had fear practically written on my face. The boy stared back at me seemingly assessing me. He's probably deciding if he should cook me for dinner or just murder me in cold blood. I don't know which option to hope for. As I continued to stare at him, I can't help but take note of his features. The boy had blonde hair and deep red eyes. His eyes reminded me of blood. I felt a shiver down my spine. Am I gonna die for real this time?

Suddenly, the boy broke our staring contest, stood up and walked off leaving me with the strange red creature. It was still looking up at me curiously. Now that I could calmly observe it, it actually looked kinda cute. Then it moved closer to me and I shifted away but the size of the bed I was lying into didn't give enough space to move. Soon the reptile was sniffing my arm. Was it planning to bite it off? However, its next action surprised me. It rubbed its scaly head into my arm as if asking and pleading me to pet it. Hesitantly, I reached out my hand to it. It didn't try to bite me which was a very positive sign in my book. My fingertips reached its head and soon my whole palm. Its scaly skin felt warm and surprisingly comforting. My lips twitched into a smile as the little guy practically purred at my touch. Then as if finally determining that I was friendly, the little guy moved from my side to my lap as I continued to pet him.

Looking at it closer, it was kind of familiar. Then it hit me. I saw something similar. A creature like him. It was from a book at our family's library. It was a picture of a dragon. This little one was pint-sized compared to the depictions of the book but it still looked very similar to the dragons drawn in it. But that's the thing, dragons were not supposed to exist. At least not anymore. After the Great War, all of them have supposedly disappeared. The only creature nearest to dragons that currently existed was wyverns. Maybe this creature was just a wyvern with a very abundant diet and a mutated head. Maybe. I wonder where the boy got him.

Thinking and wondering, I touched my head on habit. Bandages? I traced the cloth on my head. My head was bandaged. Someone clearly treated me. Did he-

"What the fuck are you mumbling about now?"

Oh. He's back. I looked at him and this time I noticed he had a glass on one hand and a bowl on the other. Then my rebellious stomach growled. The bowl and glass was shoved towards me without ceremony.

"Get the food and water already. My hands are fucking tired carrying it."

My eyes widened at the offer and I felt my beliefs and the stories I was raised into crumble to the proverbial ground of my mentality. Wasn't he going to kill me? Wasn't he a _savage_? But he's offering me food and probably, most definitely, he was the one who saved me. Was this something a savage usually does? Was he really a savage that the world branded him to be? Was the mountain tribe even really savages? Somehow I don't know what to believe anymore.

The boy was crass and for the less than an hour he one-sidedly conversed with me, he may have spouted out more curse words than I ever muttered my whole life but somehow there was this feeling in my gut that told me to trust in him and his peculiar kindness.

"Thank you." I managed to choke out as I took the food and drink from his hands. "And I thank you for saving my life. It was you, right? The one who treated me?"

The boy grunted which I think was his way of saying yes. He walked around and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

"That little red fucker on your lap found you and I just carried your injured helpless ass here."

I smiled at the creature on my lap. To think that I actually got scared of it when I actually owe it my life. I owed my life to the mountain tribe boy and this red unknown creature. It was a strange feeling.

"So mind telling me now who the fuck are you and what the fuck happened to you?" The boy asked. I guess as my savior, he had the right to know

"I'm Aizawa Izuku and I'm an apprentice tactician. I was heading to Hosu when mountain bandits attacked me and I fell off from a cliff and you know the rest." I bowed my head in sincere gratitude. "Once again, thank you for saving my life and to whom do I owe my thanks to?"

"Izuku? That's a weird-ass name." He then looked at me thoughtfully. "I think Deku suits you better."

I could only gape at him, totally floored. What? Do people nowadays give nicknames to people they just met? Was he even serious?

He grinned at my expression then proceeded to introduce himself.

"From the Bakugou clan of the mountain tribe, I'm Kat-"

Suddenly, we were interrupted by loud noises outside. There were clanging sounds and there were voices of men. Then some screams of women followed. The women sounded like they were crying. Bakugou immediately snapped up. His expression was serious.

"Stay put. I'm going to see what the fuck is going on."

I nodded firmly. He went outside. I heard him curse and he entered back again. He looked furious.

"Fucking bandits. Those dipshits must have come down here from the other side of the mountain. Brought some women with them too. Probably planning to sell and enslave them. Disgusting pigs."

I immediately paled. Bandits? Again?

My eyes followed Bakugou as he took some weapons from the chest on the side. It was two falchion swords that he held on both hands. I saw something glint and I noticed the eterna stone embedded on its steel. For some unknown reason, there was energy inside eterna stones that can connect a user's quirk to his or her weapons which could also enhance it too.

"Wait, what do you plan on doing?" I asked a bit on panic. I knew the boy was strong but there may be strong bandits or even quirk users out there. Can he even take them all on and stay alive? I could tell there were a lot of bandits outside too.

"Isn't it fucking obvious? I'm murdering the disgusting shits. Those fuckers are rotten to the core anyway. The world won't miss them."

The rage on his eyes was so apparent and for a second, the stories of the mountain tribe's uncontrollable rage came back to me. No, I wasn't supposed to think that way anymore. This boy saved me and my father always told me to repay my debts.

"How many of them are outside? Can you take all of them on?" I asked.

"Why do you fucking care?"

"Because I'm coming with you."

Bakugou's eyes widened and he glared at me. "What? Why the fuck would you do that?"

"I'm going to help you defeat them. There are too many of them and there might be quirk users with them. I can help you and I will even if you won't let me." I said determinedly.

"Huh?! What the fuck do you even think you can do?! You're fucking injured! Weren't you just attacked by bandits and almost died?! Can you even stand?"

I flushed as I remembered my stupid mistake. But I can't let that stop me now. I set the red creature aside. I put my feet on the ground and stood up. I winced on the sudden pain that coursed through me but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I firmly looked at Bakugou.

"I may be a bit injured but I'm not helpless. Let me help. You saved my life so let me repay you."

He glared at me some more. Then he grumbled. Then he glared again. I glared back. I wasn't backing down on this.

"Fucking fine! But don't get in my way and don't get yourself fucking killed either. I just fed you so don't fucking waste it!"

I sighed at his response. I'm glad that he allowed me to help but he could be nicer about it. Even better if he could tone down his curses. But it does look like he really cared. He was just awkward about it. If this was any other time, I would have been smiling like an idiot but for now we had enemies to handle.

* * *

Bakugou and I hid in the bushes as we observed the bandits. We left the 'little red fucker', as Bakugou called it, back in the house hidden in some chest. Bakugou was really about to attack the moment we got out of his tent-like house but I stopped and suggested that we form a plan first. He reluctantly agreed, fortunately.

Anyway, the said bandits were all over the settlement. There were seven of them and there were three distressed women tied with ropes. Bakugou was right. These women were victims. They were going in and out of the tent-like houses. I think Bakugou called them ger. From what I could gather in their conversations, the bandits just attacked a group of merchants and they took the surviving women with them. They took a bad turn on their way back and coincidentally ended up here. Am I really that of a bandit magnet now? Anyway, the lot of them decided to scavenge the empty gers before they actually head back to their base or wherever forsaken place they happen to live in.

It was still a bit odd though. I haven't seen any other mountain tribe other than Bakugou. There were other gers all around but no people. Where were his parents? Was Bakugou the only one living in this settlement? If so, then why?

"So what's your fucking plan now?" I heard him ask snapping me out of my thoughts.

"There are a lot of them. Seven men and three of them are quirk users."

"How did you know?"

"My quirk" I simply answered and he grunted probably to give his acknowledgement that I'm not completely useless. "The women are also quirkless."

We lucked out on this one. About forty percent of the world's population were quirk users and to have only three of them here was good. There were only two of us so the lesser the advantage our opponents had against us was good.

Five of the bandits were searching through the gers and two of them were guarding the women. All of the quirkless had axes and swords while the quirk users were unarmed. It was either they couldn't acquire a weapon embedded with eterna stone or they didn't find it particularly important to have.

I looked at Bakugou who was still crouched down beside me. He was getting impatient.

"Let's get the men guarding the women first. Let's secure the women and then defeat the rest of them in order."

"Let's just fucking kill all of them in one swipe."

"No" I answered him sternly. "The women come first. They may use them as hostages and it will make things troublesome. You won't want that, do you?"

"Tch. Fine. So what now?"

"Let's sneak up on those two bandits guarding the women first and take them out quietly. We're taking out the nearest quirk users next."

* * *

For a moment, I was awe-struck. He took out a grown man with one slash and the other in the next second. I don't think he even activated his quirk. I knew at that moment that he wasn't an average warrior. He has prowess in battle, strength and combat instincts that was clearly a cut above the rest.

"Sa-sa-savage-"

A woman's terrified voice snapped me out of my trance. I immediately moved to cover the woman's mouth. The other women were terrified too. Well, Bakugou did just strike two men in front of them in cold blood and add the fact that he was mountain tribe. It did not help make a good first impression. Was I like this earlier too?

I turned to the women and fixed a stern stare at them. I can't have them screaming in hysterics now. "If you want to escape, then you'll have to keep quiet and cooperate with us."

I undid the ropes restraining the women.

"Hide-"

"Deku!"

It all happened in a flash. Slime-like tentacles came towards me then in the next second there was a loud explosion and I was whisked away with someone's strong arm around my waist.

"I thought I heard something odd. So it was you two?" A bandit said staring at the two of us with the others behind him.

They found us way faster than I expected but at the least the women got away. As if hearing my thoughts, another bandit one piped in, enraged.

"They released the women, aniki!"

The bandit was addressing to the man in the middle with slimy tentacles sprouting from his arms. He was probably the one who struck us.

"Doesn't matter." The man responded. "Those women are ugly bitches anyway. We've got someone of higher quality here." He licked his lips as his leering eyes were directed at me. "Those perverted old men would pay a lot of money for that green-haired hussy. Well, after we'd have fun with her. Let's just kill the savage and take her."

The others snickered in agreement. Scum. They're the lowest, no doubt about that. The word savage suited them a lot more. No. Savage might not even be enough to describe how vile they are. I'm not letting those men get out of here unscratched.

I looked at Bakugou and I could see the rage in his eyes. Seems like his in agreement with me. I assessed the situation again.

The women have probably fled away as far as they could. I still have an uninjured Bakugou here with me. There were five enemies to take down. Three of them have quirks. The two remaining quirkless men had strong builds with axes as weapons. They probably use force and brute strength than speed or sneak attacks. The quirk users had lean builds. They probably use their quirks more in combat than their own body. The one with the slimy tentacle quirk could probably extend those tentacles longer so he fights in long range or mid-range. Close range combat would be effective against him. The other quirk user was an idiot. He was grinning at us showing off his quirk by forming magma balls on his palm. Who does that in front of an unknown enemy? Anyway, those magma balls looked like it could be thrown or used on contact. My erasure quirk could temporarily rend him powerless and Bakugou could strike him out. The last one had a mutation quirk. Unfortunately, my erasure quirk was quite ineffective with that kind of quirk. I couldn't exactly erase a part of their body. The bandit had a scorpion's tail attached to his body and it might even be poisonous. We have to exercise caution against him.

I turned to Bakugou and gestured to let me go which he wordlessly complied. Then I asked him:

"Bakugou, how big can you make your explosions?

As if knowing what I had in mind, he gave me one shit-eating grin, turned one of his falchion towards the bandits and-

BOOOOM!

I knew he was strong quirk user but I never expected just how much. It was one of the flashiest, loudest and biggest explosions I've ever seen. He might even have taken out a few of them. I took out the knife I strapped on my thigh.

"Kacchan, when the smoke clears and if those quirkless brutes with the axes are still conscious, take them out first then the scorpion tail next. Be careful not to get hit by his tail since it might be poisonous. I'll keep the other quirk users occupied till you're done with the three."

"Fucking fine, Deku." Then he snapped at me. "Wait-who the fuck is Kacchan?!"

Woah. He looked angrier than I anticipated but I already ran off a bit of a distance so I playfully gave him a grin that would probably enrage him more. "Payback!"

It was fair. He just gave me nickname so why couldn't I do it too? And besides he never did finish saying his name. I've got to ask him later. For now, I'll deal with the enemy first.

I ran back and sneaked behind the other quirk users as the smoke cleared. They were still conscious as expected. They were a bit far from the explosion. The two bandits noticed me and both gestured to activate their quirks. They were a second late, however. I already activated my quirk. Rendered powerless, the bandits looked at their respective body parts in confusion giving me the perfect opportunity to attack. Taking my sight from the magma user and leaving him in confusion, I slashed my knife towards the tentacle bandit, he screamed and fell back terrified. He was even worse than I anticipated. I plunged the knife into his gut and he was out.

Then suddenly, the magma user was coming towards me with a magma ball on his hand. "I don't know what the fuck did you just do, you bitch. But now that I've got my quirk back, I'll scorch that pretty little face of yours and use you as a sex toy for the rest of your life!"

I focused my sight on the bandit to activate my quirk when suddenly, a falchion sword touched his skin and it exploded. There was no surviving from that.

I scanned the surroundings and saw the two quirkless brutes not moving with slashes and burn marks on their body. Scorpion-tail was also unconscious but only had burn marks on his body. So he was the one who got taken out with the explosion and the other quirkless bandits stayed conscious. Well, it was over now. Thankfully.

Then I turned my gaze towards Kacchan who was grinning and walking towards me. Not the nice kind of grin, mind you. It was the crazy and _not a bit_ angry kind of grin. Did I just somehow sign my death warrant when I gave him a nickname?

"So you're not that helpless and weak, huh Deku?"

"Ummm... thank you?"

Oh no. Am I gonna die now?

"So what's with the 'Kacchan', huh Deku?"

Crap. I know it's not befitting for a noble lady to curse but can you blame me?!

Then my eyes widened. I saw movement behind Kacchan. Scorpion-tail was awake and he was going to hit Kacchan with his tail. I noticed some liquid was dripping from its tip and I knew on that moment that it was poisonous. I can't reach Kacchan on time. What do I do? What do I do?

Seconds felt like eternity. The tail's tip was a centimeter close to piercing Kacchan's skin when it was stopped in mid-air. My head ached more painfully than ever and my vision got hazy in the pain. I used my second quirk again after all these years. The next moments were hazy. I saw Kacchan's hazy form attack scorpion tail and blasted him off away. Then the pain in my head intensified. I heard Kacchan say something. Scream something. Then everything turned black.

* * *

I felt a very familiar slime slide over my cheek. I opened my eyes and groaned as I felt pain throbbing on my head. As expected, the red creature was right next to me looking at me with those expectant eyes.

"Fucking awake already? You took your fucking time sleeping, Deku. It's already evening."

I heard Kacchan from my side and sat up. I winced a bit at the soreness of my body. The red creature immediately moved to my lap and I began petting it. It purred on my touch and snuggled up to me a bit more. I looked at Kacchan who was sitting on a chair beside the bed and I saw the usual grumpy expression on his face.

"What happened? The bandits were they-"

"Those dipshits ain't anybody's concern anymore. And you fucking fainted, that's what happened."

"Oh. Thanks me for treating me again then."

"It was you, right? The one who stopped that scorpion bastard from killing me?"

I looked down the red creature on my lap. I never really did like talking about my second quirk. "Yes, it was me. My second quirk exactly."

"Why didn't you fucking used it before?"

"I couldn't. Whenever I use it, I get this unbearable headache painful enough to make me unconscious. It makes me weak after I use it too."

Kacchan grunted. I sensed that he won't probe the subject more so I decided to ask something that has been nagging on my mind for a while now.

"Hey Kacchan-"

Kacchan glared at me. Then he puffed and averted his eyes to another direction. Was he just telling me that it's alright for me to use the nickname? A chuckle escaped my lips. I really couldn't help it.

"What was your full name?"

"Huh?"

"Your name. You never did finish introducing yourself to me."

"It's Bakugou Katsuki."

"Katsuki" I tried saying his name and somehow it gave me a strange feeling. "Should I call you by real name now or-"

I stopped. For some reason, Kacchan was looking at me strangely. He looked a bit surprised. I furrowed my eyebrows at his curious behavior. Then he suddenly snapped out of it and he grumpily said:

"Do what you fucking want, Deku!"

Now, that surprised me. Whatever I want, huh? Hmmm… I think I'm going to keep calling me Kacchan as long as he calls me Deku. It seems fairer that way.

"So what now, Deku? Where are we going next?"

Now, that got me thinking. I was supposed to head home so my next destination should be Hosu To- Wait a sec- something's not right. " _We_? What do you mean, Kacchan?"

He smugly grinned. It looked to me that he was planning something evil. "It means I'm fucking coming with you, Deku. I didn't know you were stupid."

A vein popped on my head. I'm not stupid and I would never appreciate anyone calling me that. I set aside my anger though. "But why would you do that, Kacchan?"

"Ain't no fucking use staying here anymore. I fucking realized that after everything that happened. I'm getting weaker the longer I stay here." He looked down solemnly for a moment then he turned to me again with that confident grin on his face. "Besides you wouldn't last a day out there on your own. You'll die before you could even take three steps outside so might as well make sure you stay fucking alive and that my efforts aren't wasted."

I groaned. I couldn't even actually argue with him after all that happened. "I never knew you cared that much, Kacchan. To do that for me."

"It's not for you, Deku. You're just a side job. You're a fucking trouble magnet so I figure that if I just stick with you I'll be able to bust some heads sooner or later. I'll keep you alive and I'll have some living practice dummies to get stronger."

I sighed in despair. I mean what other else could I even do at this point? He was unbelievable, totally unbelievable. "Shouldn't you ask your parents for permission first-

"They're gone."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"They're fucking gone. My whole clan. They were murdered. Some fucking bandits came with their horses and fucking spears. They started killing everyone. I'm the only one who fucking survived."

My head hung in shame. "I'm sorry." I should've surmised as much. There was no one else in the settlement other than Kacchan. However, it was a bit odd. Bandits don't usually use spears. They were brutes and like the brutes that they were, they mostly use swords or axes. Mercenaries don't even usually use spears. Spears were mostly used by knights and cavalrymen so why?

"I don't need your fucking sorry. All I need now is to get stronger, find those fucking dipshits and send them all to hell."

I could only stare at him. I couldn't say anything back. There was so much conviction in his eyes and in his words. I could somehow understand though. If somehow I would lose those precious to me in the same way, I would probably have that same anguish as his eyes possessed, the same sorrow and the same thirst for revenge.

It became silent for a while. Kacchan did not say anything and I gave my attention to the red creature in my lap which was still snuggling up to me.

Suddenly, a rough hand cupped cheek. I flushed at the gesture. Kacchan was looking at me very seriously and his eyes were furrowed in concentration. Then his thumb started rubbing my cheek.

Eh? What?

Then his other hand cupped my other cheek and started rubbing it too.

Whaa?

Then strangely, he started leaning towards my face. Closer, closer, closer, closer-

"What on earth do you think are you doing, Kacchan?!"

I shoved his face as far away as I could. I swear my whole face felt like it's on fire.

"I'm getting rid of those dots on your face, Deku. Be fucking grateful that I'm even doing it for you."

That's it? That was the reason why he wanted me to spontaneously combust?!

"Then why do you have to get so close?!"

He looked at me like I'm the stupidest thing in the world.

"How am I supposed to lick you if I don't go fucking closer to you?"

Now, I did just combust.

"What?! Why on earth would you do that for?!"

"Weren't you listening, Deku? I'm getting rid of those dots on your face."

Whaaaaaaa! He did not just- Wait- Dots? Dots on my cheek? For goodness sake-

"THEY'RE MY FRECKLES, KACCHAN! THEY CAN'T BE TAKEN OFF!"

I was panting and my breath was ragged. My whole face was still red from the whole ordeal. Then finally understanding flashed in his eyes and all that he had to offer was:

"Oh"

Dear fate, why, why, of all the people in this world, did it have to be him?

Then he looked at me seriously and asked me very seriously.

"So you can't get rid of them?"

"Yes" I deadpanned.

"Those are part of your skin?"

"Yes" I gritted my teeth in irritation.

"That's fucking weird."

Somehow, I really wanna cry.

"On second thought, they fucking suit you, Deku."

"Eh?" I snapped up at him in surprise. "You really think so?"

"It makes you look- what's that fucking word again?" He tilted his head in serious thought and that got me quite curious. "Pathetic? Weak? Stupid? "

I should not have expected anything. I should not have. In a span of minutes, I was embarrassed, irritated and now I'm plainly pissed.

"If you just want to insult me, then just-"

"Ah! Now, I fucking remember." His red eyes connected mine. Then he grabbed one of my cheeks and pinched it. He grinned at me and said: "Those fucking dots surprisingly make you look cute, Deku."

My breath suddenly felt short. My heartbeat accelerated. My cheeks felt warm. What? Just what was- I wanna hide. I wanna hide. I wanna hide. I shook my cheek out of his hand, threw the red creature (which was surprisingly lighter than I thought) at him and hid under the covers.

"Arg! Don't just throw the red fucker at me, Deku!" He sounded pissed and I really, really don't care anymore.

Forget about dying. Bakugou Katsuki might just drive me to insanity first.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **(4 years old Aizawa Izuku, 12 years ago, Aizawa Manor, after a certain father-daughter conversation)**

 _Aizawa Inko smiled as her husband exited their daughter's room._

" _Inko, you were here. Why didn't you say anything?" Shouta asked as he noticed his wife just outside the room._

 _Inko chuckled. "I just thought that I'd let the father and daughter talk it out."_

" _It would've been easier if you were there." Shouta's face looked as neutral as ever but Inko knew that he was internally suppressing a pout._

 _Inko shook her head. "I already said my assurances earlier. What Izuku worried and wanted was yours."_

 _Shouta grunted. Inko giggled and moved in to hug her husband lightly which the man briefly returned._

" _You're not planning on killing or torturing someone are you, Shouta?"_

 _She knew how overprotective Shouta was on their only child which could easily lead to violent tendencies towards anyone who dared to hurt even a single hair on their little Izuku._

" _Shouta?"_

 _She heard a grumble then her husband's eyes averted hers' and refused to answer her. So he didn't want to lie. Her Izuku might get her hair color from her but little Izuku was her father's daughter through and through._

" _I don't think you have to do anything much though. I frankly think that the man has suffered enough." Inko chuckled as she remembered a certain purple haired boy._

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Hitoshi-kun has taken quite a shine on our daughter, it seems. According to witnesses, the boy was quite furious that someone hurt 'his ojou-sama' so he used his quirk to order the man to sleep with the pigs after he covers himself in manure and apologize his very existence to everyone in the kingdom. The poor man still walking around town, apologizing."_

 _Shouta snorted in amusement. "That kid's quite creative."_

" _I think he was only this close to actually ordering the man to kill himself, Shouta."_

" _Nah. Kid did good." Then a sadistic smile showed on her husband's face. "I still don't think that bastard has suffered enough though."_

 _Inko could only sigh. Well, she'll just have to stop Shouta, at least until the man's half dead already. She really can't have Shouta killing someone but the man did hurt her adorable daughter. Might as well indulge a bit._

* * *

 **So what do you guys think of it so far?**

 **I hope you guys don't mind the length. The flashback got longer than I anticipated. It was supposed to be another journal entry from Izuku but since the main heroine was unconscious, I just thought it was a bit inappropriate hence the flashback instead. I think it worked well in the end though. And next chapters might just get as long as this one depending on the events that _should_ happen in the chapter and Izuku's entries.**

 **And I want to give a big thank you to the first round of reviewers, follows and favorites! They were a great encouragement! Arigatou!**

 **Oh, and I'm still thinking about a name for the 'red little creature'. Any suggestions?**

 **Favorite, Follow and Review!**


	3. Chapter 2 Ablaze

**Before anything else, I'd like to give a big thank you to Malavita, InkMelody and Callisto the Great Bear for their name suggestions. The names you guys suggested helped me visualize and write the naming scene and it also led me to the name I chose for the red creature. I was actually listening in on InkMelody's suggestions on google translate when my cousin, being the cute little bugger that she is, started to randomly press some synonyms under the translation box. I don't know what words she pressed but the 'name' entered the translation box and after listening to it, I kinda fell in love with it. Not to mention my cousin kept chanting it around the house. I just really had to choose it.**

* * *

CHAPTER 2

ABLAZE

* * *

 **JOURNAL NO. 13**

 **PROPERTY OF AIZAWA IZUKU**

 **Entry #2 Year xxxx, Summer, Day xx**

 _ **I pledge**_ _that I will never take pleasant mornings for granted_ _ **ever again**_ _._

 _I can't believe that I actually managed to survive this morning with my sanity intact. Was it really too much to ask for pleasant morning with birds happily chirping outside and a very normal and ordinary greeting of 'good morning'?_

 _Too bad it doesn't actually happen with Bakugou Katsuki around. And unfortunately, I was too late to get the memo._

 _I was woken up with a weight heavily and painfully falling on my chest and a very slimy tongue that got drool all over my face. Yes, it was a very unique greeting and this unique greeting somehow scared the cra- I'm not supposed to curse. Seriously, I swear Kacchan is rubbing off his speech habits on me.- Anyway, my still half-asleep self thought it was a brilliant idea to scream and move towards the edge of the bed. The ground was very painful, thank you very much. Then Kacchan,_ _ **being**_ _the chivalrous gentleman that he was, just had the gall to laugh at my misery and milk it for all it was worth. Meaning I was teased with the words 'stupid', 'clumsy idiot' and 'lazy-ass' so very early in the morning. He did, eventually, help me up though. He even guided me to the stream where I could clean myself up. At least, after he so not politely told me that I stink._

 _The only redeeming feature of the morning was breakfast. Kacchan was surprisingly a good cook. I didn't know what the food was actually called but Kacchan said that he used mountain boar meat that he caught as one of the ingredients. I really should have noticed his talent yesterday after the delicious dinner I had. I guess I was too exhausted and weakened after I used my second quirk yesterday._

 _The craziness and my misery didn't end there though. Breakfast may have given me respite for a few minutes but the events that happened after almost broke my sanity._

 _Since Kacchan would be travelling with me (it was still unbelievable how it came to that), we both prepared for the travel. Only problem was that Kacchan refused to wear a shirt. A shirt. A shirt that even bandits actually wore or any normal and rational human being wore. So we argued. And argued. And argued. Fortunately, after a lot of profanities from Kacchan, a miracle happened and he actually agreed. Honestly, with all the arguments I threw at him, I don't know which one actually convinced him. Seriously, why would he refuse to wear a shirt of all things? Not that he looked hideous without one. It was the opposite really. I might have been too scared or too preoccupied yesterday but he was quite good-lo- Why am I even writing this? I'm not embarrassing myself in my own journal! Geez. The way large doses of insanity can do to you. Terrifying._

 _This whole thing was mentally exhausting. Dealing with Kacchan was both exhausting and exasperating. I'm still thankful though. Thankful that it was Kacchan. Kacchan may curse every time and in every sentence, he may be rude and rough around the edges but he was kind, peculiarly kind. I realize now that I could have gotten worse. A lot worse. Being a girl, injured and vulnerable, any man could have taken advantage of me. But not Kacchan. He rescued and treated me. He even tried to stop me from helping him with the bandits. It made me really happy that he actually cared for my well-being despite being the stranger that I am. And I may not ever say this to his face, lest I overinflate his ego, a part of me was actually glad and relieved that he would be travelling with me. When I first attempted to travel alone, I was attacked by bandits and I may have somehow developed this little fear in my heart but with Kacchan with me, I feel that somehow everything will be alright._

 _To be scared by something like that, I may be more protected and sheltered than I thought. Well, Papa did make sure that no one would hurt me after a few incidents on my younger years. I was really overprotected, huh?_

 _Come to think of it, Mama and Papa did never refer to the mountain tribe as savages. Papa did once tell me that they were an honorable and prideful tribe that was fiercely protective of their own along with a message not to mess with them. Funny how I remember that now after everything that happened._

 _That reminds me, I still have to send a letter to Uncle Hizashi. He might get too worried and he might just send a search party to look for me. Worse, he might send a letter to my parents. I might be grounded for a year if I'm lucky or for my whole living life if luck suddenly decided that it hated my guts. I better send a letter to my parents for good measure. Not gonna tell them I fell off a cliff though. I'll hide that little detail for as long as I could._

 _Anyway, I think I have rested enough. My wounds from the fall don't hurt as much now but it's still not fully healed so we had to stop and rest for a while or I'll risk worsening it. Besides, I can't really keep up with Kacchan's pace. He's a beast, I tell you. No one can walk for hours on uneven ground without even getting tired. I'm just a human, unfortunately. The only saving grace now was that, according to Kacchan, we are already quite near to Hosu. He said that we'll be able to arrive there in less than an hour. Time to continue our travels now. Hopefully, no more bandit attacks even if Kacchan kinda wants to have one._

 _Oh! I almost forgot. We also brought the red fuc- creature. I meant to say and write creature! Seriously, we really need to name the poor little thing. What Kacchan referred to it… ugh… It really needs a name before it actually stuck._

* * *

I closed my journal and put it back on my bag along with my pen. I was really lucky that my luggage fell near me and that Kacchan managed to find it. And speaking of Kacchan, I turned my head to the clearing ahead where Kacchan and the red creature were supposed to be. I leaned back at the tree I was sitting under. Geez. He was so impatient to get moving again and now when I'm rested enough he disappears?

Suddenly, a red blur went past me. Then there was Kacchan.

"Where wer-"

However, words just up and died in my throat. Kacchan was spewing profanities. Kacchan was looking absolutely furious. And Kacchan was running towards me non-stop. This was not what I expected. Then he turned his palms behind him, blasted off an explosion and now he was flying. Towards me. I could only gape as the sinking feeling of impending doom settled on my stomach.

"Kacchan?!"

Then everything felt like it was in slow motion. I felt my instincts of self preservation kick in. I closed my eyes in fear and-

BOOM!

"Don't fucking dodge, you piece of shit! I should've cooked you the moment I fucking found you, you red fucker!"

I winced. I almost thought he was referring to me. I got scared there for a moment. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and squeaked. No wonder he sounded so close. I felt heat quickly coming up to my cheeks.

"Ka-Kacchan?"

He jolted in surprise. Then he moved his gaze towards me. Our eyes connected and my heartbeat accelerated. Then he blinked. He looked genuinely confused.

"Why the fuck are you under me, Deku?"

I could only gape at him in disbelief. The feeling embarrassment was quickly drained as it was replaced by something more appropriate. I seethed as I gave him a glare.

"Kacchan…"

His eyes widened in surprise and before he could react, I moved my arms and slammed both of my palms on his currently flawless face. Hard.

"WHAT THE FUCK, DEKU?!"

* * *

"That fucking stings, Deku!"

Kacchan hissed as I continued to apply the ointment on the red patch of irritated skin on his arm.

"Well, if you didn't scratch it that much then maybe it wouldn't hurt as much." I reprimanded him.

"It fucking itched! What the fuck was I supposed to do?!" He complained.

I could only sigh. Day one. This was only day one. How much more the whole journey? Will my life ever be peaceful again?

Then I felt a familiar scaly head rubbing my arm. He looked up at me expectantly and quite adorably if I may add. He probably wanted me to pet him. So unfair. I'm not supposed to spoil him after all the trouble he caused but I don't know how long I could endure ignoring those cute little eyes and playful gestures. I gave the little creature a disappointed stare.

"This is your entire fault, you know. Why don't you show some remorse after what happened?"

I wasn't actually expecting a verbal response but I didn't expect a happy yip either. The creature moved to my lap and snuggled up at me as if what I actually said was permission for him to be spoiled. Frankly, I didn't feel that bad that I was misunderstood. Curse his cuteness.

Apparently, Kacchan and this not so innocent creature were somewhere in a clearing nearby then for some reason or another, this little ball of red here tackled his master to the ground. Unfortunately, there were some plants around which irritated Kacchan's skin. The rest was a lengthy history of profanities and explosions.

I could only sigh. Again. What could I really do at this point? To think that I'll be travelling with a ball of anger issues whose vocabulary could put a sailor to shame and an unknown creature who acted like a spoilt kid. It kinda felt like I'm trading my sanity for my continued breathing life.

Then I remembered something. I was supposed to ask Kacchan this but it slipped out of my mind after everything that happened.

"Hey Kacchan, where did you find him?" I asked.

Kacchan turned his head towards me. "Him, who?"

"You know this little red here. I can't exactly refer to him as an 'it' all the time unless this him is a her." I looked at Kacchan questioningly. "Is he?"

"I don't fucking know. I don't even know what the fuck it is. I just found the red fucker on some cave about a year ago. It was winter."

"Really? He looks like a wyvern but there's something different about him with his horn and all. Did he look like this when you found him?"

"No, he was an egg when I found him. He looked like that when he hatched. Don't know if he's supposed to look like that though. I dropped his fucking egg on the way home."

I looked at Kacchan in disbelief. Seriously? That had to be joke. There had to be some punch line somewhere.

I waited.

The punch line never came.

"Are you serious, Kacchan?!" I exploded. No pun intended.

"What's the big deal?! It was just a fucking cliff!" He exclaimed.

I gave him an incredulous look. "A cliff?! That's bad parenting, Kacchan!"

Kacchan uncharacteristically choked on his saliva and looked at me as if I was the crazy one in the conversation. I was not the crazy one. Definitely not. "What the fu- When the fuck did I become a parent?!"

He huffed and grumbled. I gave him a flat stare.

"Well, at least give him a proper name. He deserves that much. Really dropping his egg…"

"It was a fucking accident!" He said defensively.

"Alright, alright." I conceded. "So what do you want to name him?"

"What?"

"You can't exactly call him 'red fucker' for the rest of his life Kacchan. That's injustice and child abuse right there."I said sternly.

"Child abu- what the fuck-" He gritted his teeth and then he stopped. "If you want it so bad, then name it."

Now, that's sudden. I looked at the red creature on my lap. Come to think of it, I never really thought of a name. I narrowed my eyes in thought. Then I said the first word that came into my brain.

"Smaug"

"What the fuck?!" Kacchan exploded. Again, no pun intended. "I ain't calling it smug."

"It's Smaug."

"It still sounds like smug. Change it."

Geez. For someone who doesn't want to name him, he sure was demanding.

"Well, what name do you like then?" I asked him.

He fully turned to me and crossed his arms as he closed his eyes in thought. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and grinned. I'm not sure if I liked that kind of grin. It looked evil.

"Lord Explosion Murder!" He declared setting off a few explosions.

"No." I flat out refused. No way.

"What? Why?!" He protested.

"There's no way I'm putting murder on his name, Kacchan." I declared firmly.

"Well, you fucking asked what I like." He pouted like a brat.

"Ok." Somehow, this naming ceremony was getting ridiculous by the minute. "Why don't we just name him based on looks like? Like maybe Red-"

"Fucker" And the continuation was right out of his mouth.

Really, Kacchan? Seriously? You really just had to-

"Alright, we're not naming him Red. In a different way then. How about Akai?" Something felt missing though. I focused my gaze on the red little guy on my lap. On second thought, his color red had a distinct shade. It's more like…

"Shinku"

My eyes widened and I turned to Kacchan.

"What did you say just now, Kacchan?"

"Shinku. It means crimson."

"Shinku" I repeated the name. A smile began to form on my lips. "I like it, Kacchan."

Kacchan grinned and then I lifted the red creature on my eye level.

"Hear that?" I grinned. "You have a name now, Shinku!"

Shinku tilted his head in question. Then seeing my grin, he gave out a happy yip and flew towards me rubbing his head on the side of my cheek. I turned to Kacchan again.

"I think he likes it too, Kacchan!" I happily told him.

Kacchan smirked. "Well, it has good ring to it. Now, you two idiots rhyme."

"Huh? What do you mean, Kacchan?" I looked at him quite confused as to what he was on to about.

Kacchan's smirk looked sly now. "The clumsy idiot Deku and the red fucker Shinku. Nice rhyme, don't ya think?"

Now, I think Kacchan just ruined it. My happiness, particularly.

* * *

I whipped my head left and right as I observed the hustle bustle of people in the town of Hosu. There were a lot of people walking doing their daily business and there were various shops around. It had the authentic feeling of a common provincial town. It felt nice to be back in civilization once again. I smiled happily.

"Kacchan, let's go find somewhere to eat first before we stock our supplies. It would be great if we could also explore the town for a bit."

A few seconds passed and no response ever came.

"Kacchan?"

I turned around and immediately realized that Kacchan was nowhere to be found. Shinku was missing too. Oh no. Did I lose them in the crowd? Hopefully, those two are together. But now, how am I supposed to find them? The town of Hosu was quite huge. I think it was one of the biggest towns in Seiryuu.

I felt dread and panic surging through my chest. No. I can't panic now. I simply have to look for them. I'm sure I'll be able to find them soon enough. I released a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding. I steeled myself and began to look for them in the throng of busy people. However, not even ten minutes in my search, my clumsiness attacked again and I fell on my butt as I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry." I immediately apologized.

"No, it's me who should apologize, milady. It's a shame to hurt such a dazzling vision of loveliness no matter the reason." It was a man's voice.

A hand was then offered to me. So it was just my luck to bump into a guy and a flirty one at that. Papa was right. My clumsiness was really a class on its own. I mean, how does it manage to get me into this kind of awkward situation?

Nevertheless, I took the hand that was offered to me. The stranger may be too flirty for his own good but my upbringing demands that I answer another's courteousness with my own and ignoring his offer of help would be very rude. When I stood up, I observed that the stranger was a few inches taller than me which wasn't a surprise since I was quite short even for a girl my age. He was also garbed in armor, a typical attire of a knight which I assume he was. He had blonde hair, a shade darker than Kacchan's and surprisingly he looked to be around my age.

"Ummm…" I hesitated for a bit. "Thank for your help and I apologize for bumping into you, sir."

I expected that he would immediately let go of my hand but what happened was the opposite. His other hand shot up and then both of his hands were now holding my hand. He stepped forward. I stepped back. He looked too eager and happy that it honestly unnerved me quite a bit. What did I do now? What _do_ I do now?

"O fair and beauteous one! It must be fate we met here. Would you not favor me with your name? Or better yet, your company?"

I stepped back nervously. A flirt. I bumped into a major flirt. Oh no. I'm never really good at dealing with flirts. Sure, I've been flirted before but they were subdued since Papa and Hii-kun were usually around me but now…

Suddenly, a red blur went past me and the next second, my hand was released as the stranger received a head butt that was strong enough to topple him over. I composed myself and noticed that the red blur was no other than Shinku. Wait a sec, Shinku? Then Kacchan must be near. I hastily turned around and for sure there he was there.

"Kacchan!" The relief I felt overwhelmed me as I saw him again and I couldn't help but smile like an idiot. Then I realized something. I looked at Shinku who was scrambling off the knight then back at Kacchan. The smile fell off my face and I looked at Kacchan in disbelief. "Kacchan, did you just throw Shinku into someone?!"

"I just took a leaf out of your book, Deku." Then his eyes flashed to the stranger and he sneered as he kept his eyes on the stranger. "Where the fuck have you been and who the fuck is that piece of shit?" He looked absolutely livid. But somehow, I could feel that his anger wasn't directed at me but to the stranger who bumped into me.

I was about to answer him when the stranger finally stood up and met Kacchan's glare with his own.

"It seems that this man has no manners, milady. If this rude man is bothering you, then say the word and I'll take care of him for you, milady."

"Huh?! What the fuck did you just say, you piece of shit?!" Kacchan snapped.

The situation just turned for the worse. They might actually start fighting in the middle of the town. I've got to stop them. Two quirk users beating each other up in the current setting would not be good. I don't know what quirk did the stranger have but Kacchan's quirk can do a lot of damage in a place like this. The stranger looked like he could put up a good fight against Kacchan too. The stranger's yellow aura may not be as dense as Kacchan's but it did suggest that he was fairly strong.

I quickly went in front of Kacchan and placed my hands on his chest to stop and calm him down. "Kacchan, please don't-"

I was interrupted by a yell. I snapped my head towards the source and saw that it was a red-haired stranger running towards us. He looked like a knight too with the armor he was wearing. He went up to the blonde knight as if not really noticing me and Kacchan.

"Kaminari, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. Have you been flirting with every woman you see again?"

"Kirishima, I was just-" The blonde knight started but this time it was my unfiltered mouth who interrupted.

"Who are you?" I blurted out and sure enough, the red head turned his attention towards me and Kacchan.

I saw a flash of realization on the red head's eyes.

"Denki!" The red head was looking at the other man with a stern expression on his face and a trace of disbelief. "I told you time and time again not to flirt with married women!"

I felt heat all over my face. Married? I know that I'm already at marrying age but… Married? Married to Kacchan? I think I actually invented a new shade of red.

"I'm not- we're not-" I started to deny but the red head was already crouched down in an apologetic bow.

"I'm really sorry for the trouble that my partner has caused you and your husband, milady!" I blushed a lot more at the word 'husband' but he wasn't done yet. "Please do ignore whatever my partner had said. He had a few screws lose-"

"Oi!" The blonde stranger protested but the red head still had more things to say.

"Please do let this slide just this once. I'll make sure this never happens again!" The red head then took the blonde's head into a reluctant bow.

I was quite speechless at the scene. What do I actually do in this kind of situation? Then I noticed that people were starting to gather around. It seemed that we really caused a ruckus since the red head was apologizing quite loudly. I turned to Kacchan and thankfully he has more or less calmed down.

"Kacchan-"

Suddenly, an ominous feeling prickled the back of my neck like I was being _watched_. Sure, we were watched by a few people but this one had a trace of bloodlust. I turned my attention away from Kacchan and hastily scanned the surroundings. No one looked suspicious. Was it just my imagination?

Then Kacchan spoke up. His tone was rough.

"This is fucking stupid. I don't care about this fucking shit anymore."

Kacchan took my wrist and dragged me away without another word rudely breaking up the crowd that was forming. Shinku quickly followed us. Then I glanced at the two knights. They both looked surprised. Well, at least they weren't bowing anymore. But then the blonde looked like he was seriously thinking of something with his hand on chin. He told his red headed partner something and the red head gaped at the blonde in surprise. My eyes widened as the red head snapped his head towards us. There was a desperate look in his eyes and it seemed like he was gesturing for us to wait up but then again, me and Kacchan were already too far away. Kacchan tugged at my wrist and soon enough the two knights were no longer in sight.

* * *

We've been walking for a few minutes but Kacchan still hasn't stopped. His pace was brisk and fast. And Kacchan was being quiet. Too quiet.

"Kacchan, is there something wrong?" I asked.

"Keep your head up, Deku. We're being followed." He replied. There was a serious tone in his voice.

My eyes widened in realization. So it wasn't my imagination? "When did you notice, Kacchan?"

"Back with those two dipshits. I felt we were being watched. I didn't know who the fuck were they targeting at first but now I've fucking confirmed it." Then he sneered. "I don't know what the fuck they want but if it's a fight they want then I'll fucking give it to them."

I could only stare at Kacchan as I contemplated our options. Frankly, I don't want a fight and confronting those stalkers might not be the best option. I don't know how many were actually following us and I don't know how strong they were. A confrontation might turn out bad but we don't have much of a choice here. Either we lose them or confront them. Losing them was ideal but highly unlikely since they were able to follow us even amongst the busy crowd. There must be someone with a tracking quirk or they might be actually just that good in tracking and tailing someone. It seems like a confrontation would be the only option we could take here. However, I don't want any civilians involved since a fight might actually be a necessity. I made up my mind.

"Kacchan, let's go somewhere deserted. I don't want any civilians near us."

"It's about time you fucking made up your mind, Deku."

I could practically hear the eagerness dripping in his voice.

* * *

We ended up on the outskirts of the town. It was clearing with a river and some trees nearby. I had hidden Shinku on a tree hole somewhere. He tried to come with us but I sternly told him to stay put. I don't him anywhere near us if a fight might just break out. And this way we won't have to worry about civilians getting involved or any collateral damage that we could cause. More importantly, our pursuers will be in plain sight where my eyes could definitely reach them.

"GET OUT HERE, YOU FUCKING COWARDS!" Kacchan yelled. He already had his two swords on his hand. He actually looked quite intimidating.

I readied myself as I palmed the knives I once again strapped on my thighs. I could tell they were hiding behind some of the trees. There were two of them. I could see the aura leaking from their body that was uncovered by the tree. They were quirk users and they were strong ones at that.

"Temper, temper." A sing song voice came from behind one of the trees. He was a guy on his teens. He had slick blond hair parted to the right on his forehead and grey eyes with white pupils. "Don't be so hotheaded, Bakugou Katsuki. Your lady friend might just run away from you if you keep that up."

My eyes widened. That man just said Kacchan's name.

"Who the fuck are you? My name… how the fuck did you know of it?" I could feel Kacchan's fury through his voice. Whoever this man was, he was definitely not a friend.

The guy replied with disdainful smirk. "No one important, really. I'm just your run of the mill assassin who's paid to kill you. Nothing personal, just business."

"An assassin?!" I couldn't just keep my mouth shut. There was someone who wanted Kacchan dead. I had my suspicions about the massacre of Kacchan's clan but I never really thought that Kacchan was an actual target. "Who ordered you?!"

"Tut. Tut. That angry look on your face doesn't suit you that much, little lady. But if you must know, the confidentiality comes with the money so I'm sorry but you'll have to work it out on your own, little lady." The guy mocked. "You look like you could be intelligent enough to figure out. I can't say the same towards your companion though. Well, he won't live long enough to think about it anyway. Honestly, if he just died together with his clan then-"

"Deku, fuck with the questions." There was ferocity in Kacchan's voice that I've never heard before. "Let's just torture the fucking questions out of him when he's half-dead!"

Then Kacchan attacked. He was livid.

"Kacchan! Don't!" I yelled but he wasn't listening. He was too enraged.

The assassin was dodging every slash and every explosion and then suddenly an explosion was blasted _at_ Kacchan. Kacchan fell back. What on earth was-

"You look lonely, milady. Would you mind if I joined you?" A shiver ran up my spine as I heard a man's voice behind me.

I took the knife I strapped on my thigh and swung at the speaker. A clang resounded as my knife touched his dagger. This man was dangerous.

"I didn't know you are the feisty kind, miss." The man mocked. He looked like a guy in his twenties. He had a lean build and he looked highly trained in combat. He was a quirk user and he was not to be underestimated.

Then I heard sniggers and I saw five more quirk users. Since when did they get here? This was bad. We were totally out outnumbered.

"I think my job is done here, gentlemen." One of the quirk users said. He was a strange one. His body looked like it's made of purple mist. "I will leave you now but I trust you will be able to finish your job properly?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're gonna kill the savage. Just tell that Giran to ready the rest of the payment, Kurogiri." One of the quirk users replied. "What about the girl?"

They must be assassins also targeting Kacchan. And he said a name: Giran.

"She is of no consequence. Do what you want with her." The purple mist turned to leave.

"Wait." A woman revealed herself. She must be the one I sensed earlier. "Let me come with you. My job's done here too." She must be the tracker.

"Alright." He agreed then some portal appeared and they both disappeared.

I don't know what was the actual deal about those two but now it was six quirk users versus the two of us and I don't know if we could actually handle them. Their auras indicated that they were fairly strong.

Then suddenly I heard a loud explosion and I spotted Kacchan as he was blasted off a few paces away.

"Kacchan!"

I tilted my knife and swung again making the man step back then I threw another knife at him for distraction. I immediately ran to Kacchan's side.

"Are you alright, Kacchan?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm fucking fine, Deku but that blonde shit's gonna die!" He looked as furious as ever but at least he listened to me now.

"Oi, what is this? Why is the savage still alive, Monoma?" One of the men said.

It was a bit odd. Those men were definitely assassins but they weren't doing anything. They just stood at the sidelines.

"I was just about to kill him." The blonde assassin gritted his teeth. He looked irritated.

"Well, you better, newbie. You may be new to this business but you've gotta pull your weight. Be thankful we're actually letting you have him for your first kill." Another man snickered.

"Then shut up and let me do my job, you old men!" Now, the assassin, I think he was called Monoma, looked quite angry.

"Oh no, you pissed blondie off." Another one mocked which earned smug laughs from the others.

Monoma clenched his fist and growled. Then as if to prove a point, Monoma angrily charged at us and I immediately turned my eyes on him to deactivate his quirk but before I could someone already stopped him. It was the red headed knight that we met earlier. He threw a heavy punch at Monoma and he made him fall back a distance away. Then I heard gallops beside us. This time it was the blond knight mounted on a horse.

The blond knight grinned at me. "We've come to your rescue, milady."

"We don't fucking need your help!" Kacchan exclaimed.

"Maybe but it seems you two are quite outnumbered." The red head said.

The other five assassins who looked disinterested in getting involved earlier looked quite eager and more cautious now.

"He's right, Kacchan." I agreed and then I turned to Kacchan. "All of them are quirk users and all of them looked fairly strong and highly trained. You want answers, don't you, Kacchan? Then we're going to need their help to apprehend them."

Kacchan clicked his tongue but I know he more or less agreed to it.

I turned to the knights. "If you could help us, then we gratefully accept it."

"Of course, milady." The red head smiled.

"Alright." I looked at the assassins determinedly. "I still don't know about the other five but one of them could copy someone's quirk most probably on contact."

But before I could communicate a plan, the assassins made their move. The blade of a chain sickle was thrown and the other assassins scattered. I could see the eterna stone on the chain sickle's handle. Fortunately, the attack was blocked by the red head again. I looked at the knight worriedly. His metal armor broke but surprisingly the red headed knight was uninjured and his skin looked hard.

"My quirk is hardening, milady." The red head spoke. There was a grin plastered on his face as if he was enjoying the fight. "I will introduce myself properly later but now you may call me Kirishima."

"Then I am Kaminari, milady." This time it was the other knight. "Again, proper introductions will be done later and my quirk is…" The other knight charged at the assassin with his horse and I don't how I didn't notice it until now but he was holding a spear with an eterna stone embedded on its blade. He aimed it forward and my eyes widened as it sparked with electricity. Then he attacked. The assassin was thrown backwards unconscious. One down.

My lips twitched into a grin. It seems like we gained some very reliable allies.

Then I sensed movement. One of the assassins was jumping around so fast that my eyes could barely follow him. Then suddenly I was roughly pushed away and the next second I saw Kacchan stopping a kick in mid-air with his blades. The assassin's legs looked like springs. It wasn't like that earlier so it must be a transformation quirk. Then like a spring it compressed and I know he was going to jump off again so before he could I deactivated his quirk. Confusion was plastered across the assassin's face as his transformation was undone.

"Kacchan!"

"You don't have to fucking remind me, Deku!"

Kacchan swung his blade and one loud explosion later, another assassin was out. I turned my gaze to the knights and I saw them fighting against another assassin and the now recovered Monoma. The other quirk user kept touching things with left hand and everything he touched kept going towards Kaminari and Kaminari looked like he had his hands full just defending himself from rocks, blades and among other things. Kirishima on the other hand was dealing with Monoma who, by now, has copied his quirk and was using it against him.

Then I heard a familiar voice whisper on my ear.

"I think it's time you step out of this fight, miss. I initially planned on leaving you alone but your quirk's too much of a hindrance. We can't kill the savage properly as long as you're here." I didn't notice him again. He was very near. I could literally feel his breath on my ear but how could I possibly not notice him till he actually said something?! "Oh, don't stress yourself too much, miss. Just know that my quirk is as troublesome as yours."

I couldn't properly defend myself this time. I managed to move but I felt something dulling my movement. There was some kind of ray and I felt my whole body slowing down. I almost screamed as a knife stabbed my shoulder.

"Deku!"

And sure enough, Kacchan was there but he didn't manage to hit the assassin as he was nowhere to be found again.

"What the fuck did you do to yourself, Deku?!" Kacchan was angry but I could somehow trace the worry on his voice. I almost chuckled at the thought.

"I didn't exactly do this to myself, Kacchan…" He was about to retort when I grabbed him and leaned so that he could hear me I lowered my voice. "Listen to me first, Kacchan. The one who stabbed me is a quirk user who can make himself unnoticeable until he voices something out. I think he was also working with another one who could literally slow us down. Then the one fighting with Kaminari can probably lock on a target and have all things he touches with his left hand thrown at his target. It probably requires contact to lock on to someone since he didn't lock on to you and you are the main target. I've got a plan so listen carefully, Kacchan…"

* * *

I deactivated the quirk user who was fighting Kaminari and at the moment Kacchan attacked.

" _I'm going to deactivate the quirk user who's fighting Kaminari and the moment I do leave me alone-"_

" _The fuck would I do that! That fucking bastard's gonna attack you again!"_

" _That's the point, Kacchan. He's unnoticeable unless he says something and he's got an annoying habit on whispering things behind my ear so I want you to…"_

With the other assassin's quirk deactivated, the fight went on to Kaminari's favor add Kacchan to the equation the outcome was quite predictable. Kirishima and Monoma's fight was also affected as they were fighting nearby. Then I heard Kacchan yell:

"Hair-for-brains, throw that fucker behind Deku!"

How Kirishima managed to know that Kacchan was actually referring to him was beyond me but somehow he got it and he threw the nearly unconscious assassin towards me or more accurately the man behind me who predictably planned to whisper in my ear again. I dodged in time as both assassins painfully crashed at each other. It wasn't what I actually expected that Kacchan would do since I only told him to throw something or reach me to throw my attacker off balance so I could deactivate his quirk and land a strike on him but this was even a lot better. I turned my gaze towards the others and I saw Kaminari and Kacchan closing in on Monoma and with their simultaneous attacks they managed to render him unconscious.

Then suddenly some kind of ray appeared and it seemed directed to the two assassins who crashed on each other possibly to soften their fall but it was expected and were ready for it.

" _When something happens to my attacker, another assassin would probably make his move. I didn't see him anywhere earlier so he must be hiding somewhere. When he uses his quirk, he emits some kind of ray and then we could pinpoint where he is."_

" _Alright. Fine. I'll fucking do it but you better not get yourself killed, Deku."_

"Kacchan! He's behind those bushes!"

"DIE!"

With a war cry, Kacchan propelled himself with his explosion and within a few seconds there was an explosion and a painful scream. Then Kacchan appeared from the bushes holding a man on the back of its collar. He threw him towards the other who was still conscious but quite weakened. Then I saw Kirishima grin.

"Do your worst, Kaminari!"

"Got it!"

Then Kaminari confidently jumped off his horse and he dropped off his spear. He grinned as his hands cackled with electricity. He approached the assassins then there were a lot of flashes after that. I couldn't really keep my eyes open since the flashes were murder on my eyes but when I opened them again. The three assassins looked a bit burned and unconscious. Kaminari was acting strange too.

Then suddenly, I felt lightheaded.

"Milady, your shoulder's bleeding!"

"Oh, I forgot." Somehow it was getting hazy.

"Damn it, Deku! How the fuck did you forget?!"

* * *

"You have to take it easy for a while, miss. The wound on your shoulder is a bit deep and you have some injuries that are not completely healed yet."

"Yes, doctor."

The doctor left and I was left alone with Kacchan, Kirishima and Kaminari and, of course, Shinku. After the whole thing, Kacchan and Kaminari rushed me to the town's doctor while Kirishima stayed to round up the assassins. He managed to apprehend the other five but Monoma was nowhere to be found. We suspected he might have fled when we weren't paying attention on him. He was definitely injured but not injured enough to be incapacitated. Monoma probably did something to defend himself when Kaminari and Kacchan both attacked him. Anyway, Kirishima followed after and the doctor checked the others too. The others had some scrapes and thankfully I was the only one with a large wound. So now, I'm sitting at the hospital bed while the others were free to stand around.

Shinku flew to my lap and snuggled up to me as usual. It was a bit silent since no one was actually talking so I decided to take the initiative. I turned my gaze to Kirishima and Kaminari.

"Kirishima-san, Kaminari-san, thank you for your help."

"No worries about it, milady. It was our pleasure." Kirishima said.

"Yes, our pleasure indeed." Kaminari added. "Saving an embodiment of beauty is a gentleman's duty. But if you don't mind, milady, will you bless us with your name?"

I sweat dropped. Kaminari's still a flirt even now. And how does my name even remotely bless anyone anyway? It's still proper to introduce myself though after all their help.

"I guess I've never properly introduced myself. Nice to meet you, I'm Aizawa Izuku."

"Aizawas of Yuuei?" Kirishima asked.

"Yuuei's Aizawa?" Kaminari asked.

I nodded.

"AIZAWA!" They both exclaimed. "WE'RE VERY SORRY FOR OUR RUDENESS, LADY AIZAWA!"And now they are both bowing in apology.

Geez. I really forgot how famous my last name was and its effect on people. Well, Kacchan never really fussed about my last name. It was possible that he never heard of my family as a mountain tribe but I guess it doesn't really matter. I was only Deku to him which was quite refreshing to be honest.

"Please, lift your heads up. You two didn't really do anything wrong and you both really helped me and Kacchan a while ago so if it's anything I'm quite grateful to you two."

Thankfully, they straightened themselves up and they both smiled at me which I also replied a smile of my own. Why do I get the impression that they were both grateful to me instead?

However, Kacchan's rough voice interrupted our musings.

"How about you two fucking explain yourselves now?"

"Kacchan, that's rude." I reprimanded.

"These two were fucking there for a reason and I want to fucking hear it." Kacchan was still rude but I get why he's suspicious though. Kirishima and Kaminari's arrival for help was too perfect.

"He's right, Lady Aizawa." Kirishima surprisingly confirmed it. Kirishima turned to Kaminari and they both nodded as if they both decided about something. Then they turned their attention to me and Kacchan.

"Before we state our reasons, we would like to confirm this first." Kirishima said then he focused his gaze on Kacchan. "Are you Bakugou Katsuki?"

Kacchan nodded. Then Kirishima turned his gaze on me as if asking it was indeed true. I nodded. I don't think Kacchan lied about his identity.

I expected the both of them to immediately state their reasons but it surprised me and Kacchan when they went down on their knees and bowed as if paying respects to their lord. Just what was going on?

Then Kaminari spoke. "I am Kaminari Denki and my partner here is Kirishima Eijiro. We are knights that were sent here to find you."

Kirishima followed. "We recognized, Kaminari actually, I mean he recognized you. You look a lot like the portraits of your mother, Lady Mitsuki-"

Kacchan stiffened at the mention of the name. "Oi, you two better fucking tell me all of the things you know." There was a trace of controlled rage in his voice that honestly made me uneasy Kacchan openly displays his anger. He never hid it or controlled it.

"Of course."

Kaminari and Kirishima stood up and they started their tale.

"Our lord, the Marques of Yamanashi, Gran Torino, your grandfather wanted us to find you and possibly bring you with us back to Yamanashi."

The Marques of Yamanashi? He's Kacchan's grandfather? Then that means Kacchan's a noble. An heir. But how? How did it happen?

Kaminari answered the question for me. "Your mother, Lady Mitsuki, eloped with a member of the mountain tribe who was once under the employ of your grandfather seventeen years ago. Your grandfather never really stopped her though since your grandfather actually supported your father. It caused an uproar among the nobles but your grandfather silenced them claiming that your mother was an independent woman who can take care of herself and that she'll be back sooner or later."

Kirishima continued the tale. "Your mother sent your grandfather letters throughout the years and I could remember how your grandfather would laugh and smile boasting about how alike his grandson was to his daughter. However, news reached us a few months ago. It was the news of your clan's massacre and that Lady Mitsuki and her husband was among those who perished. The Marques was stricken with grief and after that he was bedridden with illness. But there was hope. His grandson survived. You, Bakugou-sama, are still alive so that's why he sent us to you. He wants to see you."

Kacchan was silent and his expression was unreadable but I could tell he was trying to process everything but there was an important question I'd like to address.

"The assassins…" I started. "They said a name…Giran…do you know him?"

Kirishima and Kaminari's eyes widened. But it was Kaminari who answered.

"I'm afraid so, Lady Aizawa. Giran is the Marques's younger brother and his lust for the throne is quite known. We suspect that he might be behind the massacre of the Bakugou clan and he must have paid those assassins who we fought today."

Suddenly, an explosion came from Kacchan. I couldn't really see Kacchan's face but judging on the drops of blood from his clenched hands, he was enraged. Very enraged. More enraged than I've seen before. Then Kacchan left without another word.

"Kacchan!"

I did not hesitate putting Shinku off my lap and yanking the covers off me. I put my bare feet on the ground and hurriedly headed towards the door but before I could reach it someone held my arm. It was Kirishima.

"Lady Aizawa-" I don't know what he wants and I doubt I really care.

"I can't leave Kacchan alone now. He might hurt himself!" I yanked my arm off him and ran.

* * *

I found him somewhere surrounded by fallen trees with traces of explosions and blood. He was about to strike another tree when I tackled him to the ground. I can't let him hurt himself anymore. I couldn't bear it.

He sat up and he held me away.

"What the fuck do you want, Deku?!"

I could see the hate and rage in his eyes but there was also grief and sorrow. I really couldn't leave him alone. So I acted. I hugged him as tightly and as firmly as I could. I don't know if it was appropriate to do it. I don't know if it was fine to do it. But it felt right to do it.

Kacchan tried to push me away but I stubbornly held on.

"Please, Kacchan…don't lose yourself to all that hatred…to all that rage…please..."

"He killed everyone, Deku!" His voice shook. "My parents. Everyone in my clan. He fucking killed them all! HE KILLED EVERY FUCKING PERSON THAT MATTERED!"

I didn't let go. I held on. I didn't want to let him go.

"Kacchan…"

"He killed them…He killed them…He killed them, Deku…" Kacchan held me tight. I could feel the subdued sobs and his tears on my neck. His embrace was painful but it was nothing compared to the pain he must be feeling.

"Kacchan, listen to me. Before you think of revenge…before all that hate…before all that rage…Think of your grandfather, Kacchan. Your grandfather loved you and your mother. He loved your mother even as she ran away from home. And you. He loved you even as the grandson he never met. He loved the both of you. He still lives, Kacchan. You still have family. So before anything else, think of your grandfather, Kacchan."

I don't know if he heard me. I don't know if he listened to me. But his embrace tightened a bit more as he continued to silently cry. And I stayed silent, hoping and praying that my presence somehow helped him.

It was a few minutes later that I felt Kacchan calm down. His hold on me loosened and the embrace became comfortable unlike the tight desperate one earlier. He shifted for a bit but he didn't let me go nor did he let me see his face.

"Deku…I want to see my grandfather…" I gasped as joy spread through me. "Come with me."

His next words surprised me but I immediately knew what my answer would be. I'll make sure of it. I'll make sure Kacchan meets his grandfather.

"Of course, Kacchan."

"Good." He murmured. "For some damn reason, you also matter to me now, Deku so take fucking responsibility of it and don't leave me alone just yet."

I smiled.

"Yes, Kacchan."

You matter to me now too, Kacchan.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **(Aizawa Izuku's letter to Yamada Hizashi)**

 _Dear Uncle Hizashi,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well. I have finally reached Hosu and as promised I have addressed a letter to you. I know that it took longer for me to write to you than expected but I promise you, it wasn't because of broken bones._

 _There were some unforeseen events and some extenuating circumstances that prevented me from writing to you sooner but I am still alive. I am alright and I still have all of my limbs intact. All of them._

 _I know how much of a worry wart you can be so I've sent this special letter to my favorite uncle so he doesn't drive everybody crazy with his worrying._

 _Really, Uncle Hizashi, I'm fine. Travelling with you for months has made me stronger and has made me more comfortable on the road. I also have some reliable and strong travelling companions with me now too. One of them actually promised to keep me alive on the road and I know that the others would also keep me safe. So don't worry too much, Uncle Hizashi._

 _I actually missed you calling me green bean as I write this letter. But I'm gonna pretend I didn't write that the next time I see you though._

 _I wish you success in all your endeavors and say hello to the guys for me too._

 _Your honorary niece,_

 _Izuku_

 _PS. I really do miss you. And the guys too._

* * *

 **Well, that was long. Longer than chapter 1 at least but I hope you guys had fun reading this and I hope it was worth the wait.**

 **I never really intended to update this late but I had my exams and I had to grudgingly** **make it my priority. I got sick for a few days too probably because of all the caffeine I shoved down my throat and all the late night studying that I pulled. Exams are a menace in my life. And writing this chapter ain't a walk in the park too. I had difficulty with the fight scene particularly.**

 **But enough with the reasons. Now, I'd like to thank the users who put this fic on their favorite list, the followers and of course the encouraging reviewers! Know that you guys are awesome and that you seriously encouraged and motivated this lazy student to write. Arigatou!**

 **And speaking of reviewers, I'd like to give a special mention to Malavita who pointed out that this fic reminded him or her of Fire Emblem 7. Well, surprise, surprise! This fic was born on a restless night when I was replaying Fire Emblem 7 with the second ending theme of BNHA season 2 playing on my laptop screen. Long story short, inspiration hit me like lightning and I just had to write something.** **Those who are unfamiliar or haven't played the game don't have to worry though. This fic may pick some inspiration from the game but it doesn't require you to play it since this fic is quite littered with my own modification and changes. You guys don't really need to know or play the game to understand this fic and I think I've proven that with the last few chapters. Fire Emblem 7 is still one of the most awesome games I've ever played though.**

 **And castielris actually asked if this fic is a love triangle or a threesome. Well, my answer for now is I don't know. It's my intent to develop the romance as I develop and integrate the characters in the story. I may have outlined the storyline already but the romance and emotions on the undercurrents of their quest is something that I want to decide as I go along or as I write along so various pairings might even pop out. It really depends a lot on the story development, my mood when I write and my fangirling tendencies. But know the that I both love the KatsukiXIzuku and ShotoXIzuku pairings.**

 **I guess I've ranted enough now.**

 **Favorite, Follow and Review!**


	4. Chapter 3 Amiss

**Just a little something before you guys read this chapter: Please do read Izuku's journal entry. Other than it has practically the continuation of the events last chapter but I also put some details about the continent that Izuku and the gang will be travelling on. It's a bit long but please do bear with me because those details are very important in the story. Thank you and I present you Chapter 3~**

* * *

CHAPTER 3

AMISS

* * *

 **JOURNAL NO. 13**

 **PROPERTY OF AIZAWA IZUKU**

 **Entry #3 Year xxxx, Summer, Day xx**

 _I guess I better start with a status update._

 _Yesterday, we met two knights from Yamanashi: Kirishima Eijiro and Kaminari Denki. Then we're attacked. Again. The two knights helped us and I earned a wound on my shoulder. I almost fainted. Take note. It was almost. I did not faint this time. The attackers were assassins, by the way and their target was my one and only grumpy companion. Then the knights informed us that Kacchan was the grandson and heir to the Marques of Yamanashi and that his grand-uncle was after his blood. Long story short, Kacchan's practically sucked into an all-out inheritance dispute with his not-so-dear grand uncle._

 _And I'm not leaving Kacchan to deal with it alone._

 _Yesterday, I saw another side of Kacchan. The vulnerable side of him. When I first heard about the murder of his clan, I suspected that there was some foul play involved but to confirm and discover that his grand-uncle was behind it wasn't pleasant at all. The family Kacchan cherished was murdered, murdered for a throne he never knew he had the right of until that day. And add the fact that his grandfather's health was failing. It was something that could easily cause people to break down but Kacchan went to the lowest point and he stood up again. He didn't let the hate consume him and I really admire him for that. I doubt that Kacchan's want for revenge was erased though. What Giran did was unforgivable and somehow I could tell that desire for revenge was beginning to simmer quietly within Kacchan and the momen thatt the opportunity comes, that desire would burst out along with all that rage and hate. I fear that Kacchan might lose himself when that time comes. It would be one of the worst things that could happen but also the most likely to happen. I could only hope that Kacchan's grandfather could anchor and stop him from losing himself._

 _Come to think of it…_

 _What was I thinking hugging him like that?! Gah! My face heats up every time I think about it! Kacchan was crying and I held on to him like a life line when he probably wanted to be alone but still…_

 _But really, it was real awkward after that. I couldn't look at him in the eye after we broke up our… hug… When I sneaked a peek at him, his eyes were reddened and he was sniffing for a bit. It was then and there that I realized that I just hugged a boy all the while feeling his tears falling on my neck. It was awkward. Really awkward. That was until Kacchan broke it in his most Kacchan way imaginable._

 _He took one look at my feet and exclaimed out these exact words:_

" _What the fuck, Deku?! Did you come all the way here without any fucking shoes on?!"_

 _He practically manhandled me after that. He scooped me up in his arms and placed me on one of fallen tree trunks. Then he proceeded to inspect my feet. He was surprisingly gentle about it. Then he cursed._

" _Fuck it! You're fucking injured! Again! You ain't walking in this shit and you're gonna stay put in that fucking hospital bed till it fucking heals!"_

 _I could really only gape at him at first. Then I laughed. I really laughed. I couldn't help it. After all that happened, it was there again: the peculiar kindness, the unexpected concern and his gruff way of showing it._

 _He ended up spewing out profanities till I could finally control myself. And then we went back to town with me on his back. We found Kaminari and Kirishima still waiting for us at the clinic. They were quite happy when we informed them that we would be going to Yamanashi with them. Kirishima was particularly ecstatic._

 _The destination was set to Yamanashi and the four of us- and one Shinku- will be travelling together._

 _Yamanashi is quite far from Hosu though. I think it will probably take us a few weeks to get there. We need to cross the border to Yuusari to get there, not that I hadn't planned on it in the first place. I need to cross Yuusari to get home anyway._

 _On that line of thought, I'm really quite far away from home at the moment. I mean if we look at the map, I'm practically on the opposite side of the continent._

 _Well, the continent of Musutafu is quite huge but it is mainly divided into five countries and three regions. I'll leave the regions for another entry and I'll just concentrate on the countries this time._

 _The five countries of Musutafu are Hakuryuu (northeast tip of the continent), Seiryuu (east; south of Hakuryuu), Shikyuu (southeast; south of Seiryuu), Yuusari (right in the middle of the continent; west of Seiryuu), and Yuuei (west; west of Yuusari)._

 _Hakuryuu is the northern-most nation in Musutafu. I've never been there but my mentor described it as a snowy and mountainous region that can't support farming very well. Most people become mercenaries to survive while some become scholars. Pegasi are also native there._

 _South of Hakuryuu is Seiryuu where we currently are (specifically in the town of Hosu). Seiryuu is a vast open country of nomads. There are three main tribes living here and one of them is the mountain tribe. Tribes are further divided into clans and one of them is Kacchan's clan._

 _And then south of Seiryuu is Shikyuu. Shikyuu is ruled by a monarch and is one of the most powerful military nations with its large military force. It is also Mama's home country and Papa said that I've been there a few times when I was a toddler back when my grandparents are still alive. I don't really remember it though. Wyverns are native in Shikyuu too._

 _In the center of the continent is Yuusari, where we are generally heading. It's just practically beside Seiryuu and Shikyuu really. Yuusari is made up of fourteen federations of territories, each ruled by a powerful Marques and those leaders form a council which governs the country. Yamanashi is one of the territories of Yuusari and Kacchan's grandfather is its Marques which makes Kacchan a noble and an heir, a future Marques if he's grand-uncle doesn't get his way. And he won't. I'll make sure of it. I've been to Yuusari for a few times but I've never stepped foot in Yamanashi. Unlike my visits in Shikyuu, I particularly remember my visits in Yuusari specially that one visit I made a few years ago. It was a visit to Shizuoka, another territory in Yuusari, but it wasn't a very happy visit though and I never got to see the one that I wanted to see the most._

 _I'll be gloomy the whole day if I try to recall that 'visit' so I'll just stop there and proceed to my home country._

 _Yuuei is my home country and I'm a proud citizen of it so pardon me if I do seem to be a bit biased. Yuuei is one of the largest nations in Mustafu and the most advanced civilization too. It is also rumored to rival Shikyuu in military strength. Well, that rumor does have some truth in it. My country has a prestigious military school which brushes up our military force and a tactician school for intensive learning in battle tactics and strategies. Yuuei has also produced some renowned knights over the years too like Papa and Uncle Hizashi. And of course, Yuuei's king, Yagi Toshinori is also hailed as one of the strongest generals of all time which gained him the alias of All Might._

 _I've called the king Mr. Toshi in my younger years. I didn't know he was the king then but he was a very kind man who used to play and laugh with me in the castle greenhouses. The queen, however, died of childbirth a few years ago. I remember how my family and the kingdom mourned for her death. She was Papa's second cousin and a distant relative of mine. She was a very kind woman that would gently braid my hair during my visits in the castle. She was the main reason why I kept my hair long. She left us with a very cute crown princess though. Crown princess Eri is the royal family's miracle and the cutest little munchkin that I practically dote on. She was six the last time I saw her. The queen had a few miscarriages before she gave birth to the crown princess and the queen became sickly through the years. The royal family almost gave up till Eri came along and she became the miracle that the royal family and the kingdom hoped for._

 _Just thinking about her makes me miss her a lot more. I really miss my folks back home but I've already sent them a letter so I guess its fine._

 _I just sent my letters the moment the post office opened earlier in the morning. One letter was for Uncle Hizashi and one letter for my family. The post office had always amazed me, by the way. It was headed by the Kouda family, a family of merchants, and they have branches all over the continent mainly on large towns. The Kouda family has a very unique quirk that lets them have an easy way with animals. I don't know how they actually do it but they can get hawks and different kinds of birds to deliver letters to different people and different places. The sender needs to provide some details, of course, but it's still amazing._

 _And…I just realized I've written too much. I really got carried away this time. Why did I write about the continent's geography in the first place? I'd probably fill this whole journal before I even get to Yamanashi at this rate. Really. I've got to control this ranting habit this is really-_

 _I'll just stop now. I might just fill another page if I continue._

 _And I need to get down anyway. It's almost time to go. Kirishima and Kaminari might just have prepared the horses already._

* * *

 _ **Red and white**_

 _ **Turquoise and gray**_

 _ **Warmth and chill**_

 _ **A smile and a voice**_

" _ **Instead of a thousand fragile promises, I'll give you this one curse, Izuku…"**_

 _ **Deku!**_

 _ **Since when did-**_

 _ **DEKU!**_

I groaned as the light hit my eyes.

"Deku, you fucking awake already?"

"Kacchan?"

"Yeah, it's me. Why? Who the fuck did you think I was?"

I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

 _I dreamt of him again_. It's been years since I last saw him but I still remember him as strongly as I did when I was younger. Why do I still want to see him so badly even after all these years?

I leaned back and I immediately felt the warm body behind me. I turned my gaze up and I saw Kacchan's red eyes looking questioningly at me. Right. How on earth did I just miss it? I'm riding on a horse with Kacchan and we're currently heading to Yuusari, to Yamanashi since we can't possibly reach there on foot. Kirishima and Kaminari already had a horse so we bought another one in Hosu. I could ride on my own but I've always felt better if someone was riding with me. The possibility of being painfully thrown off the horse considerably lessens when I have a companion. I don't really mind riding horses but my clumsiness can cause a lot of painful accidents so I tend to avoid riding alone and the one who taught me how to ride a horse was… _him._

Damn. I remembered my dream again and as always it brought out the feelings of uneasiness within me.

"What's wrong with you, Deku?"

"Nothing, really…"

I glanced up at Kacchan again. He raised an eyebrow. I turned my head forward again.

"If it's bothering you that much then just fucking say it, Deku."

I hesitated for a bit but then again, there's no real harm to it if I just spill it out.

"Kacchan, have you ever felt like you've wanted to see someone again for so long but at the same time you're dreading it just as much? Like a lot of things happened and that things might not be the same anymore and that maybe that person's changed a lot and that-"

"Stop mumbling, Deku. You're sound like a fucking retard. It's stupid."

"Don't call me stupid, Kacchan!" I exclaimed. "And here I was, pouring my heart out to you…"

"It's still stu-"

"Don't say it, Kacchan." I pointed a finger at him warningly. But instead of being intimidated, Kacchan just slyly grinned and opened his mouth going in for a bite. My eyes widened and I immediately withdrew my finger. That was close. "Control your animal instincts, Kacchan."

Kacchan snickered and I glared at him.

"I just don't fucking get what you are so worried about, Deku. It's either you want to see the shit or not. If you want to see that shit, then fucking do it. If you don't want to, then just fucking avoid the fucker for the rest of your life. And then if you meet whoever the fuck it is when you don't want to, then just punch the fucker in the face."

I snorted. Typical Kacchan. Him and his blunt ways. "That's violent, Kacchan."

"Just fucking punch the fucker in the face and it will make you feel a lot better. Make the nose bleed if you can too."

"Geez. Really violent. Are you sure that's just not you, Kacchan?"

"Trust me on this one, Deku." He really sounded so confident.

"But what if it doesn't make me feel better or that he doesn't exactly deserve it, Kacchan? What do I do then?"

"Then fucking apologize and just kick the fucker hard when he doesn't accept it."

I gaped at him. Unbelievable. Then I suddenly felt laughter bubbling up inside me. It was totally ridiculous. I laughed and then I leaned back comfortably on Kacchan.

"I don't know if I'll ever follow your advice but I feel a lot better now, Kacchan. Thanks."

"Whatever, Deku."

I chuckled in reply.

"So you're finally awake, Izuku-sama? Did you sleep well?" Kirishima asked as he galloped his horse besides me and Kacchan.

"As well as I could on a horse, anyway." I smiled.

"She snored and drooled shit while she's sleeping." Kacchan said, snickering.

"I did not!" I immediately denied. No way. Wait- "Did I?"

Kacchan sniggered.

"You're so mean, Kacchan!"

"You doubted it, Deku." Kacchan smirked and Kirishima laughed.

I huffed and crossed my arms. Really. Men. But just to be clear, I _so_ did not pout.

"Kirishima, you boor!" Kaminari came up on our other side. "Gentlemen don't upset the ladies!"

I chuckled. "I don't really mind it that much, Kaminari-san. It's all in good time." I really prefer this light and jesting atmosphere any day than the tense and stuffy settings of formal hierarchy.

"Sorry about that, milady." Kirishima apologized.

"It's fine, Kiri- Shinku!" My jaw-dropped in disbelief as I spotted Shinku chewing Kirishima's arm. No wonder I haven't seen him anywhere since I woke up.

"Oh, the shit's doing it again." Kacchan said nonchalantly as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Since when did he- Are you ok, Kirishima?" I asked the red-head worriedly. Shinku's teeth were sharp.

"I'm alright, Izuku-sama." Kirishima assured. "I can harden my skin so it doesn't really hurt. He's been chewing my skin since last night. I think this little…wyvern…I think he's teething?"

"I guess…" To be honest, I really have no idea. Wyverns like to chew things when they're young but I've never seen a wyvern act like this. Well, Shinku doesn't seem to be a typical wyvern or if he actually was one so I guess it's…abnormally normal.

Then suddenly Kacchan's gruff voice interjected. "Oi Deku, what's that on your neck?"

I traced the chain on my neck with my finger. I almost forgot I'm wearing it again. The chain got broken before so I had to keep it in my bag. I managed to have it fixed in Hosu after I sent my letters. I turned to Kacchan and saw that he was quite curious.

I took the necklace out of my shirt and showed it to him. It was a locket with an embedded symbol of a crest with a raven on it. "It's a family heirloom, Kacchan and it also identifies me as a member of the House of Aizawa. That symbol there is our family's crest."

Kacchan looked apprehensive. "So you need this shit so people would know you're an Aizawa?"

"Introductions work well enough but in times when your identity is in question then it helps." I answered.

"That sounds fucking stupid. You know that piece of shit can be stolen, right?" Kacchan said, unimpressed. Leave it to Kacchan to call a priceless jewelry, a piece of shit.

"It can be stolen, yes, but its ownership can't be changed."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a little bit more special than you think, Kacchan. The metal that this locket is made of recognizes blood, specifically the blood of the family. This trinket has been passed down on my family for centuries and every time it passes hands it receives a little bit of blood from its owners. When my father gave it to me on my fourth birthday, I gave it one drop of my blood and it glowed. The last owner of this locket was my grandmother, an Aizawa's daughter."

"I've heard about that kind of jewelry before, Lady Aizawa. It matches your blood with its previous owner or more accurately the first owner of it, right? It glows when matched and blackens when it doesn't." Kaminari said.

"That's the gist of it."

"But didn't it go out of fashion years ago?" Kirishima asked.

"It was centuries ago actually and it didn't exactly went out of a fashion. It's just that no one can make them anymore." I replied. "This kind of jewelry was a fad within nobility centuries ago. A family of artisans made and introduced it. It became quite popular but it was pricey so mostly nobles and rich merchants could only afford it. With its rise in fame, that family of artisans became a target for thieves. Rumors said that they were killed and that they took the secrets of their craft with them to the grave."

"That's quite a story, Lady Aizawa." Kaminari commented.

I nodded. Then I noticed Kacchan's quiet demeanor. Strange. He was quite talkative a few minutes ago.

"Kacchan?"

He jolted a bit and he looked at me then to my necklace.

"I think my mother has one."

It took me a few seconds to figure out he meant by it.

"Oh. I guess it's not really that much of a surprise. Your family is noble, Kacchan. Do you have it?"

Kacchan stiffened and in a moment his eyes was clouded with anger.

"Those fucking bastards ransacked the place. I thought they were looking for random pieces of shit they could take but they were looking for _it_. Those fuck ups took it!" Kacchan seethed.

"Calm down, Kacchan." I wasn't really that convincing though. Even I could understand his anger. Those murderers not only took his mother's life but something that she cherished too, probably under the orders of another member of his family.

"Fuck!" Kacchan lashed out.

Then something occurred to me. A particular line of thought that I didn't really like.

"Kaminari-san, Kirishima-san, if ever we do reach Yamanashi can Giran spin a lie and disprove Kacchan's identity? Does he have enough support in the court to do that? Will people believe him?"

"Giran has a few allies, Lady Aizawa. He might use them to sway the court." Kaminari responded.

This was bad. This was really bad. Other than Kacchan's word and his appearance, we don't really have any other ways to prove his identity. If his granduncle would claim that Kacchan's an imposter out of the bat then people might question Kacchan's identity and we would be stopped at the gate before we could even see his grandfather.

"I don't think you have to worry about it that much, Izuku-sama. Before Kaminari and I left Yamanashi to look for Katsuki-sama, the Marques said that the proof of Katsuki-sama's identity will come to us after we find him." Kirishima said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Beats me-" Kirishima stopped as he realized he slipped into informal language. I don't really mind them being informal to me but I haven't really told them about it either. Kirishima cleared his throat. "I mean, I don't know, Izuku-sama. It's just that he instructed us to send a letter to someone when we finally find Katsuki-sama. I don't really know who the receiver is but the Marques assured us that it was someone he trusted. I sent the letter this morning with the faster messenger the post office has."

Then Kaminari added. "Let me also lighten up your worries, Lady Aizawa. Kirishima and I vowed to bring Katsuki-sama to our lord and we will succeed even if we have to storm the castle to do it."

"Let's just put that suggestion as a last resort for now." I'm not really keen on the idea of storming a castle and causing a lot of property damage. "I think we better put our trust on Marques first before we decide to actually do something drastic." I turned to the gruff boy behind me to ask for his opinion. "Kacchan?"

"I'll leave that shit up to you, Deku. I'll just do what I need to do."

"Alright."

Kacchan's eyes looked more determined than ever.

* * *

"Kirishima-san, we're supposed to pass a series of villages, right?" I asked as I squinted trying to get a clearer picture of the structures up ahead.

"Yes, Izuku-sama, I think we are quite near to it already." Kirishima answered.

The structures became clearer as our horses galloped nearer. "Then what are those ruins up ahead?"

"Ruins?" Kirishima's face visibly scrunched up and I heard Kaminari gasp.

"Fucking bandits…" Kacchan seethed.

Our little group was finally close enough to the said series of villages and it wasn't a pretty sight. There were ruins everywhere. The homes were reduced to burned out, crumbling unlivable pieces of structure and the place was devoid of human life. This place was evidently recently attacked and as Kacchan have surmised, the most probable culprits were bandits. It certainly looked like their handiwork.

Then suddenly, a distressed voice of an animal echoed. It was a horse's neigh. I immediately looked around and saw that it wasn't exactly from a horse but a pegasus. Its female rider looked like she's trying to fight off two shady looking men and behind her was a scared little girl. The rider was obviously defending the little girl from those men and those men didn't exactly look friendly, in fact, they looked like bandits.

"Kirishima-san! Kaminari-san!" I alerted them both. The both of them could reach and help the pegasus rider faster. "Please help the rider. I think those two men are bandits!"

"As you wish, Lady Aizawa!"

"As you command, Izuku-sama!"

It only took a minute for Kirishima and Kaminari to reach the rider and rend the two bandits immobilized on the ground. The female rider calmed her pegasus as we neared.

"Are you alright?" I asked as we finally got near enough.

"Yes, thank you very much for your help."

The rider looked evidently grateful if her smile was anything to go by. She looked to be a girl my age with big round brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She also had a pink aura around her signaling her identity as a quirk user.

"What the fuck happened here?" Kacchan asked in his usually gruff manner.

"Oh, right." The rider dismounted her pegasus and approached the girl behind her. She said a few words to the little girl and carried her up in her arms then she turned to us. "I saw this little girl trying to escape from those two bandits when I was flying by. I think she came from another village nearby. I couldn't really leave her alone so I-"

The sound of a signaling horn filled the air. I felt dread settling on my stomach when I turned around and saw that one of the bandits was actually behind it. Then, as I feared, another sound of a horn in the distance replied.

"Fuck!" Kacchan cursed.

Kaminari immediately moved to rend the bandit unconscious with his electric spear but the damage has been done. That bandit had managed to call out reinforcements and they would be coming any minute now.

There's not much time to lose. I need to come up with a plan now.

I turned to the rider. "Miss, you said she came from a nearby village, right?"

"Yes, I saw another village when I was on air. The little girl looked she was heading towards there."

I snapped my head and looked around. This time I spotted the village she was talking about. It was a bit of a distance but the horses could reach them in no time. It could be easily reached on foot too, meaning, if we don't hold those incoming bandits here they might eventually attack the village and the damage and casualties will be devastating. I need to at least warn that village so they could prepare their defenses. I really don't want to deal with civilian casualties. I don't want _any_ casualties. Period.

"Izuku-sama?" Kirishima's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. There was tension in his voice and he seemed to be on edge. Everyone was on edge.

"If you're thinking of a fucking plan then spit it out now, Deku."

My eyes immediately turned to Kacchan. There was a feral grin on his face as if he absolutely knew that I would definitely come up with a sound plan in this situation. It was both pressuring and flattering. Pressuring, because I was only an apprentice tactician at the moment with only months of experience on my back and flattering, because of the trust he placed on my capabilities. Frankly, it almost made me flush.

I took a deep breath. Apprentice or not, I was this group's tactician and it was my job to think of a plan that involved preventing anyone from killing themselves.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. We have a lot of walls here so we'll be tunneling them. Rather than advancing, we take up our defense here and use the walls here to reduce the number of bandits we have to face at once. This way they won't be able to crowd and overwhelm us with their numbers which is likely a lot more numerous than ours." I turned to Kaminari and Kirishima. "I need you two to hold the space between the falling walls over there." I pointed to make sure they knew what I was talking about. "But don't be too reckless though. Take note of your injuries and fall back if necessary." They both nodded and went to take up their positions.

I turned to Kacchan next but before I could make a word out, Kacchan already dismounted our shared horse. It was a bit scary how Kacchan could guess what I was thinking about sometimes despite the short amount of time we knew each other.

"You want to warn that village, right?" Kacchan asked and I nodded in reply. "Then it'll be faster for you to ride alone. Just don't fall off the damn horse and if I fucking see you with another injury, I fucking swear- what's so funny, Deku?"

I really couldn't help but laugh at his unique way of expressing of concern. I playfully grinned at him. "No promises, Kacchan."

Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. My clumsiness was a level high enough to encompass those kinds of incidents but he doesn't have to know that, right?

Kacchan growled in response. "Just don't fucking die while I keep these two dipshits alive, Deku."

"I'm not sure about the injuries but I think I could keep myself alive on a little errand, Kacchan."

"Make sure of it, Deku. And you ain't fighting this time around. You can use your erasure quirk but stay out of the damn fight. I'm not letting you fuck up your injuries this time." Well, that was unexpected. Kacchan seemed quite serious about it though. Then he turned to the pegasus rider and glared. "Oi roundface, if she fucking dies in your company I'm holding you responsible and I'll slam that fucking face of yours to the ground no matter how fucking high you might be."

I gaped at Kacchan. "Kacchan, that's rude! It's not nice to threaten people!"

"Whatever, Deku."

Then he left.

Geez. That Kacchan.

"I'm really sorry about him, miss." I sincerely apologized.

"No, it's fine… I guess…" The female rider uneasily answered. "So I'm coming with you to the village?"

"Yes. I know that we've only known each other for a few minutes but I do insist. Judging on that little girl's grip, she won't be too keen to be separated from the heroine that saved her." I smiled and the rider's visibly brightened.

"I will come with you to the village then after that let me help you with the bandits. I was the one who got you involved with them in the first place. I'm only a trainee for now but I'm an aspiring pegasus knight so I can help you fight them off. " The rider said determinedly.

"Then your help will be much appreciated." I answered with a grin.

Having a pegasus knight on our side would be a great boon for us. I don't know what her quirk was but she looked like she could handle herself in a fight and she was well equipped with a slim lance.

"Alright. Let's go."

* * *

When we got to the village, it was strangely silent. The pegasus rider gracefully landed beside me. We got here within a few minutes, I almost fell off the horse once but it's not that important. The important thing now, was the reason for eerie silence.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called out.

"Leave us alone, you thugs!" Someone finally shouted though it was quite upsetting to be confused for those vile bandits.

"Go away! Go away! We've got no more gold for you!" Another shouted. I'm guessing this was the reason why this village wasn't practically burnt down to the ground like the other one. Never underestimate the power of bribery.

"No, wait! Please! We're not bandits!" I yelled back. "And I believe, we also have one of yours' to return."

"Remain inside, everyone." I heard an authoritative voice though it was surprisingly belonging to a woman. "I'll go see what's happening."

A woman with pink locks and yellow eyes emerged from one of the houses. She looked to be around my age or maybe a year or two older than me. Noticeably, she had a bow and a quiver full of arrows swung across her torso. She also had some strange device strapped on her waist.

"So you're not bandits? Who are you then?"

Well, that was direct to the point. Saves time then.

"My name is Izuku and I'm just travelling through here with a few companions…" I said deciding to leave my last name out since it might cause some commotion. "And this is…" I turned to the female rider. It just occurred to me that I never knew her name.

"I'm Ochako. Uraraka Ochako, pegasus knight in training." The rider said. "I was flying by when I found this little girl trying to get away from two bandits. Is she a resident here?" Uraraka gestured at the little girl on her arms who seemed to have cried herself to sleep.

The pink haired woman turned to the villagers at the back and gestured. A woman uneasily approached us and gasped as she saw the little girl.

"She's my daughter!" The woman took the daughter from Uraraka in glee. "I was quite worried when she took too long to come back from her errand. Thank you! Thank you very much!"

"Think nothing of it, ma'am but please do watch her more carefully from now on." Uraraka said.

"I will. Thank you so much for helping her!" The woman replied gratefully and with that she left.

"That was a good thing for you to do guys, I mean, girls but is that all you came here for?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Oh, right." I really shouldn't get myself too distracted now. "I'm sorry to spring this on you but there are some bandits heading towards here. My travelling companions are probably fighting them off by now but we needed to warn the village so…"

"That's villages, actually."

"There's another village?" I asked.

"Yeah, there's another village up north though you'll have a harder time getting there with all the wreckage."

Now, that's troubling but conveniently, I have Uraraka here. The wreckage won't be much of a problem on air. "Uraraka-san, can I please count on you to warn that village up north?"

"Sure, no problem." She answered cheerfully. "Leave it to me, Deku-sa-? Wait, I mean, Izuku-san?" Her face twisted into confusion.

I chuckled. I guess it can't be helped. Kacchan did call me Deku earlier. "I really don't mind it but Izuku is my actual name. Deku is just a nickname of sorts."

"Oh. I'll call you Izuku-san then. My offer still stands though. I want to help you with the bandits." It looks like she's still determined to help.

"And it will be much appreciated, Uraraka-san. Come find after you warn the villagers." I smiled. I'm liking her cheerful personality more and more by the minute.

She grinned. "Expect me later then, Izuku-san."

Uraraka mounted her pegasus gracefully took off into the air towards the said village.

Then I heard an impressed whistle beside me. "Now, that's a problem solved fast." I turned to the pink haired girl.

"I guess…" I scratched my cheek uneasily. "And I guess I should really go back to my companions now."

But before I could go and mount my horse, the girl stopped me. "Wait! You're a traveler, right? I'm a traveler of sorts, too."

Ok, so this place must be popular place to pass through…

"The name's Hatsume Mei." That's good to know. She won't only be the pink haired girl in my mind now. "Listen, these villagers have been kind to me. Mind if I lend you a hand on that fight? My babies and I could take down a few of those trash for you." She grinned.

Am I actually hearing things right? Did this pink haired woman just volunteer herself into this mess? More importantly… _what the heck did she mean by babies?!_

"Um…ok…"

I _so_ did not hesitate because I thought she was weird. _Really_.

* * *

A few minutes after that conversation, I found myself riding with the pink haired girl on my back.

"So, what's an Aizawa's daughter doing out here this far from Yuuei?" She suddenly asked.

I stiffened. How on earth did she know? "Eh?"

"I thought it was suspicious that you didn't mention your last name when your companion readily gave out hers."

Oh. I guess that's understandable.

"How did you find out that I'm an Aizawa though?"

"I saw the locket around your neck." I guess I must have forgotten to tuck it back on my shirt. "Saw the symbol on it. I traveled through Yuuei once and saw your family's crest."

"I'm surprised you saw the symbol on my locket clearly since it's quite tiny. I don't recall you going for a closer look."

"I'm pretty confident about my eyesight."

"Does it have to do with your quirk?"

She gave out that impressed whistle again. "You're quite sharp, Aizawa-sama. A quirk of yours?"

I chuckled. "Yes. You're sharp, Hatsume-san and Izuku will be fine though."

"Well, Izuku-sama, it will be my pleasure to let you call me Mei then." I could hear the mirth on her tone.

She may be weird but she was far from unlikeable. "Noted, Mei-san."

* * *

When I was close enough to see the fight, the situation didn't look bad but it didn't look good either. There were a lot of unconscious and immobilized bandits around and Kacchan, Kirishima and Kaminari were holding out but I've noticed they fell a few paces back. And the main cause was probably that quirk user on the rear. Barriers kept popping up every time the guys would attack and disappearing when the bandits would attack. The guys were facing two quirkless bandit at once or in the case of Kirishima, three. The quirkless bandits seemed to be a bit more skilled than they actually look. My companions looked like they had their hands full dealing with them. Fortunately, my companions were skilled enough to dodge them but this situation can't go on for long or we'll be at a disadvantage.

"It's quite abrupt, but would you terribly mind if I ask you to hit that quirk user at the back the moment you find yourself a vantage point, Mei-san?"

"Not at all, Izuku-sama. It will be my pleasure." I could practically feel her eagerness.

Suddenly, I heard a strange sound behind me then some hook tied to a rope shot out towards a tree and the next moment Mei came flying out from behind me towards the tree. So that's what the strange device on her waist was for. Impressive. Too bad I can't whistle so this will have to do:

"Hyuu~"

Mei immediately positioned herself and pointed her arrow at the target I told her about. She took the first shot towards the quirk user. It didn't reach the target though. The bandit was smart enough to put up a barrier around him. I can easily remedy the situation though.

"Do it again, Mei-san!"

This time I used my quirk and the barriers immediately disappeared. And this time, the arrow finally hit their target.

"Nice job! No particular target now, Mei-san! Shoot any of the bandits as you will! Immobilize or weaken them! The two knights and the blonde mountain tribe are on our side!"

Mei gave me a thumbs up and then she proceeded as she was told.

Wait a minute… Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

"AHHH!" That was definitely a man's shout.

I snapped and turned around. I immediately saw the source. I don't know if I should be impressed or terrified. It was Shinku happily chasing down a bandit who was running for his life. It wasn't too soon when Shinku finally caught up. Caught up, meaning, the bandit was tackled from the back and blasted off towards the wreckage. I cringed. I swear I could hear some bones break.

"Izuku-san!"

"Uraraka-san!"

Uraraka landed next to me and then she put out a money pouch towards me gesturing for me to take it.

"I managed to warn the village up north. They gave this to me when I said we're fighting off the bandits."

Well, I guess it won't be bad to receive it. We could always use the gold for supplies and weaponry for the journey. I really doubt this will be the last time we'll be fighting on our travel.

"Good job, Uraraka-san." I took the pouch from her hands with a grateful smile.

"It wasn't much, Izuku-san. Oh, and I took the pleasure of seeing the enemies from above. There are eleven of them left. Two are going around the wreckage to sneak an attack from behind. The rest are fighting with your companions."

I smiled. Pegasus knights were one of the best scouts in a party. They were also good for advance forces and surprise attacks.

"Can I leave those two bandits to you, Uraraka-san? Attack from the air. Surprise and immobilize them with one strike if you can. Don't push yourself though. Fall back if you can't handle them."

"Count on me, Izuku-san!" And with that Uraraka took off.

It only took a few more minutes after that and the fight was finished. As Kacchan fiercely requested, I stayed at the rear and I stayed out of the fight, not that I really needed to join them though. They already had the fight under control. It was a relatively easy victory anyway with Mei and Uraraka's help.

However, there was one unforeseen accident…

"My beloved spear!"

"Hahahaha! Suck it up, Kaminari!"

"Shut up, Kirishima!"

Well, Kaminari's spear broke. Unsurprising result with how many of the bandits he used it against today.

I am so glad I actually accepted the money now.

* * *

After the fight, I went and asked Mei if we could stay in the village for a few hours to eat and rest up. Mei happily responded that the villagers would be glad to have us. I almost asked if we could stay for the night but there were still a few more hours till sun down so we can still do some travelling before the day ends. We'll probably end up camping out but it could definitely speed up our travel.

The villagers did, in fact, welcome us happily. We ended up at the village's inn which also served as a tavern. The villagers offered to treat us a meal and refusing the offer was far from my mind.

"Uraraka-san, Kirishima-san, having a pleasant conversation?" I greeted them with a smile as I sat across them. Uraraka and Kirishima were the only people at our table at the moment. Mei was chatting with the villagers, Kaminari was flirting with some village girl, Kacchan wanted to walk around before our food arrives and Shinku followed him around.

"Izuku-san!" Uraraka greeted.

"We were just talking about our travels, Izuku-sama." Kirishima said.

"I see. By the way, you're a pegasus knight in training, right, Uraraka-san?"

"Yes, Izuku-san. The truth is that I needed to join a band of freelance soldiers or mercenaries to further my training so I'm heading to Yuusari to try my luck and find some group to join in. I'm not very sure if I could find one though." Uraraka said weakly.

She's like me then. I already finished mine recently though. Hmmm… I guess I could recommend her to Uncle Hiza-

"Well then, Uraraka-san, your lovely face doesn't have to worry anymore! I just had the most brilliant beyond brilliant idea!"

Kaminari? He seemed very enthusiastic all of sudden. And since when did he get here? Mei's with him too.

"Why don't join up with our merry little band?! With the lovely Hatsume-san here, we're a fine group of soldiers and freelance to boot!"

Eh? What the- Did Kaminari just _seriously_ , _spontaneously_ , _randomly_ recruited people to join us? Now, I'm just spectacularly speechless.

"Wait, did you just include me?" Mei asked as she pointed to herself in confusion.

"Of course! We were destined to meet here. It's fate!" Kaminari exclaimed. "Come now, Katsuki-sama's band of mercenaries is as good a training group as you will find anywhere!"

"This is no joking matter, Kaminari!" Yes, Kirishima, be the voice of reason and straighten this insanity out. I wholeheartedly support you! "Don't go forcing people to join us! They have to agree to it first!"

Now, that hope escalated and dropped just as quickly.

"So I'm part of this shindig now too?" Mei-san, why on earth do you sound so happy? "Hahaha, no problem. This looks interesting. I'll join up! I could probably use my babies a lot more if I travel with you!"

I give up. And _what_ on earth did she mean by babies?!

"Is this really ok, Izuku-san?" Uraraka's meek voice asked. At least someone still seems sane but then again it might not actually be bad if they join us. We could fight off assassins more efficiently this way. Uraraka and Mei don't seem bad too.

"It's fine, Uraraka-san. I'm sure Kacchan won't mind." Unless you annoy him that is, but, for some reason, I do feel quite confident that I could convince him if needed.

"Well then, please take care of me from now on." Uraraka bowed politely.

"Us too then, Uraraka-san."

"Well, that's decided then! We now have two more lovely flowers in our party!" Oi Kaminari-san, you didn't just recruit the two of them to flirt with them, right? "With our lovely tactician Lady Aizawa here, we will be a force to reckon with! It was almost too bad that Lady Aizawa was already taken by Katsuki-sama or I would really have made my move by now."

Wait- Did Kaminari just-

Kirishima grinned. "You shouldn't flirt with anyone in the first place, Kaminari. But I do agree that Katsuki-sama lucked out having you as his wife, Izuku-sama!"

No, no, no! Does this mean that all this time… Kaminari and Kirishima thought I was married to… I swear I could feel the heat overwhelming my cheeks. For goodness sake-

"EH?! You're already married, Izuku-san?!"

No, I'm not, Uraraka-san!

"I'm surprised too, Izuku-sama. You looked so innocent that I never really thought you had it in you to be married to a guy like that!"

Please don't include innocence in this conversation, Mei-san!

"WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE MARRIED, DEKU?!"

I wanna die.

My face flushed and I could hear a lot of confused "Eh?" in the background. Then suddenly, Kacchan took hold of both of my wrists and held my hands up to his face as if looking for something.

"Fucking bastard can't even get you a ring." Kacchan's angry? "Break up with the asshole and ditch him on a trash heap somewhere, Deku."

Wha-

"Eto…Katsuki-sama?" Kaminari-san? "Weren't you _the_ asshole, Katsuki-sama?"

"Huh?"

Kacchan blinked.

"HUH?!"

"Calm down, Katsuki-sama. I think me and Kaminari just made a mistake here. We kinda thought… well, we really thought… we thought that you and Izuku-sama…are married…I mean you were with her when we met you and…you two kinda act like you were one so…"

I think I just exploded.

I glanced up at Kacchan but the expression on his face was unreadable covered by the shadows of his hair. Then my eyes turned to his ears. They were red.

Oh god.

Kacchan's actually embarrassed.

"Oh no…" A troubled voice snapped me up and it was surprisingly from Kirishima. "I think we may have a bit of a problem, Izuku-sama."

"Eh?"

"Remember the letter that the Marques instructed me to send to someone? Well…I may or may not have written that Katsuki-sama is travelling with his wife…meaning…you, Izuku-sama."

I'm doomed.

"Ah! But don't worry too much, Izuku-sama! I didn't really write your name just that you are from a high-ranking noble family in Yuuei and besides we don't really know who the receiver is so it might not even matter that much!"

Doomsday has got nothing on this whirlpool of insanity.

* * *

 **(A lot of miles away. Yuuei. Aizawa Manor. Aizawa Shouta's office.)**

Aizawa Shouta relaxed in his chair as his wife, Aizawa Inko, poured the tea for him. For once, he wasn't working in the castle swamped with paperwork. He still has a lot of paperwork regarding some matters of the family left to work on but at least, he could take the afternoon off with his wife.

That was until a bulky blonde man known as King Yagi Toshinori opened the office doors and strolled inside with a letter on his hand.

"King All Might? This is a sudden a visit. What brings you here?" Shouta inquired.

"I'm afraid it's a very urgent matter that can't wait, Aizawa-kun." The king put a hand on Inko's shoulder when he saw the woman stand up to leave. "I think you should also hear this Inko-san. It involves a rather close friend of yours."

"Is something wrong, Toshinori-sama?" Inko asked worriedly.

"I think you'll find it as good news, Inko-san."

The king showed the letter to the couple.

 _Bakugou Katsuki is found and secured. Heading to Yamanashi from Hosu with Katsuki-sama's consort, a daughter from a high-ranking noble family in Yuuei._

It was a very brief message but one that weighed heavily.

Shouta heard a sob from his wife but he knew the tears were not from sadness but from relief. That Katsuki boy's mother, Mitsuki, had been a very close friend to his wife along with another woman called Rei. Her friend Rei had died a few years ago so Inko was practically devastated when she heard that another friend of hers' died.

Shouta went over to his wife and lightly offered her comfort.

"Thank you for sharing this, Toshinori-sama. I really appreciate it." Inko said gratefully finally composing herself.

"No worries, Inko-san. I know you were very close with the boy's mother." The king responded.

"I believe you still have the items that Gran Torino-sama sent you, King All Might?" Shouta asked remembering the letters and the two items that the Marques sent months ago for safekeeping. One of the letters was actually for his wife bringing the news of her friend's tragedy.

"I have the crest and the ring, Aizawa-kun." The king replied. "I believe you have someone in mind that's fast and trustworthy enough to deliver these items?"

Inko straightened up and gently broke away from her husband's hold. "Let me call Shinsou Hitoshi for you, Shouta, Toshinori-sama."

With that, Inko left the room leaving the two men. It really amazed the raven haired man just how fast his wife could figure out his plans sometimes.

But something's nagging at the back of his mind though. The letter said that the boy was married to a noble's daughter from Yuuei. His beloved daughter's face popped into his mind. Impossible. That would take one hell of a coincidence for that to happen.

Besides, he would definitely hear it if any scu- man dared to marry his daughter, right?

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **(Aizawa Izuku's unread letter to Aizawa Shouta and Aizawa Inko in transit)**

 _Dear Papa, Mama,_

 _How are you two doing back home? I hope this letter finds you both in good health._

 _I know my letter is a bit late than usual but a lot of things happened in the last few days. I have completed the required fieldwork and I have split with Uncle Hizashi and his group a few days ago favoring to travel on my own. A lot happened on those last few days and it really kept me on my toes. Nothing really, really bad happened. It was nothing I couldn't handle. I'm quite alright. No major injuries to worry about. Really. I mean I still have both of my eyes, my nose isn't broken, my fingers and toes are all intact and nothing's wrong with my head so I'm in good health._

 _I actually met someone. Well, a someone and his pet. I was actually scared of him at first but later he proved to be quite kind and he became my friend. He was a member of the mountain tribe. His pet is adorable too. It's a baby wyvern, well it looks a bit different from a normal one but it's still adorable. We've named it Shinku after the color of his scales. Those two actually became my new travelling companions. It was unexpected but it was something I wholeheartedly welcomed as well. I feel safer with them._

 _When we reached Hosu, we met two knights who said some very important things especially to my companion. As facts came to light, I gained a new destination in mind. I want to accompany my friend to Yamanashi. I know it's a bit of detour but it's still on our home's general direction so I hope you forgive me if my return would be delayed a little but I really want to do this. I want to be there for my friend and I want support him. I feel like I would regret it for life if I won't._

 _Papa, you've always said that some things are best decided by the heart and I'm listening to it. I'm listening to what my heart tells me._

 _And the two knights are also travelling with us so I will be quite safe. You and Mama don't have to worry too much. I may a bit clumsy but I did also manage to complete my training so I'll be an official tactician soon enough. I know you two are quite protective of me but I can take care of myself and I won't be alone. I have trustworthy companions with me._

 _Say hi to King Toshi and give princess Eri a kiss for me. Tell her I miss her so much. And tell Hii-kun not to stay up so late at night. I got the feeling that he went back to that bad habit of his while I'm gone._

 _By the way, that goes for you too, Papa. I know you have a bit of insomnia but I heard from someone I met in my travels that chamomile tea before bed would be good for you. I know Mama will be happy to make you one._

 _I love you both and give my regards to everyone in the manor. I miss you both so much._

 _Your daughter,_

 _Izuku_

 _PS. The friend I was talking about, his name is Bakugou Katsuki. He nicknamed me Deku the moment I introduced myself so now I call him Kacchan. He's a bit rough around the edges but he's kind and he's someone I could trust with my life._

* * *

 **Another long chapter and another posted-later-than-intended chapter. I was unexpectedly dragged with the rest of my family to my grandparent's place for a few weeks and I had no access to my computer or even the internet during that duration so this chapter was late.**

 **I'm really sorry for the delay but I hope that the length and the content of this chapter could make up for all the waiting.**

 **And also pardon me if you find some mistakes or skipped words. I checked this chapter twice but since it's quite long I may have missed some mistakes.**

 **Now, I'd like to give my thanks to the users who followed and put this fic on their favorite list! It made me happy to see that a lot of people are actually reading this fic. And, of course, I'd like to give special thanks to the reviewers! I was very happy to read your positive reviews and it made writing this long chapters a lot more worth it. Arigatou!**

 **Favorite, Follow and Review!**


	5. Chapter 4 Align

**It's a flashback this time not an entry. Entries will be switched with flashbacks when, for some reason or another, Izuku can't write in her journal in the story like when she's unconscious or when chapter is a continuation of a day in the story.**

 _ **Flashbacks are italicized.**_ **Current events are not.**

* * *

CHAPTER 4

ALIGN

* * *

 **(6 years old Aizawa Izuku, 10 years ago, Spring, Aizawa Manor, Courtyard)**

 _Aizawa Inko hummed as she put the last of the snacks that she had baked herself on the table. The pleasant aroma of tea filled the air and the table was elegantly arranged with the expensive tea sets and porcelain that the Aizawa family owned and accumulated over the years. Inko never really cared for prices but the tea sets were very nice to look at and it was better to use them than just having it gather dust on the cabinets, not to mention that it was perfect for the little affair that she was hosting. Inko could never really ask for a better day: the sky was clear, flowers were in full bloom and spring was on full swing. It was perfect for a relaxing tea party outside. The gardener didn't spare any effort in taking care of the plants in the courtyard too._

 _It was a Sunday afternoon and Sunday afternoons were spent with family. It was a family tradition that Inko actually made up and upheld. Just on Sunday afternoons, all three members of the Aizawa family would put a stop on their busy lives to spend the afternoon on whatever activity the 'host' decided on. The 'host' last week was her daughter and the family of three ended up playing games around the manor. The father and daughter got very competitive with each other too. Her husband tended to let their daughter win though probably because the smile that their daughter had on her face every time she won was too adorable to pass up. But then again, it was her little Izuku, everything about her was adorable. And now it was Inko's turn. She decided to host a tea party taking into account the busy week her husband just had and so it would be nice to just relax and talk the whole afternoon. Knowing her daughter, she'll have lots of 'little adventures' to tell them._

 _Too engrossed with her own musings, Inko never noticed her husband's presence till he snuck up behind her and gave her a well-placed kiss on the cheek. Her husband, Shouta, was never really that showy with his affections outside but on the occasion that he does, it never failed to make Inko's heart flutter no matter how many years they've been together. She smiled at her husband who also replied it with his own. It looked more of a smirk but Inko knew better. She watched him sit on one of the chairs and reach for a cookie and proceeded to munch it nonchalantly._

" _You're not waiting for your adorable daughter, Shouta?" Inko playfully asked._

" _Nah, she'll be running towards here any minute now anyway." Shouta replied, relaxing in his chair. "And this is delicious, by the way, Inko."_

 _Inko chuckled. "Nice of you to compliment it and here I thought that I'd have to ask for it first."_

 _Shouta snorted in amusement. "As if I'd miss recognizing any of your cooking."_

 _Inko giggled but before she could reply, their little bundle of joy came running towards them just as her husband predicted. Little Izuku looked like she just got out of the bath with her green hair slightly damp. She also brought an ornate box with her too. Then finally, little Izuku reached them and she was settled into a chair by her very helpful father who sat beside her. Izuku put the box on the table._

 _Seeing the two members of her family comfortably settled down, Inko settled into a chair beside her daughter putting Izuku between her and her husband. The ornate box on the table caught Inko's attention. It was very familiar._

" _Izuku, where did you get that box?" Inko asked._

" _I found it in the storage room." Izuku answered cheerfully._

" _And what were you doing in the storage room, Izuku?" This time, it was her husband who asked. He was looking suspiciously at their daughter. "Is that why you look like you just got out of the bath tub?"_

 _Izuku twirled her damp in her fingers guiltily avoiding her father's eyes. "Me and Hii-kun and some of the maids played hide and seek in the manor, Papa. I hid in the storage room this time."_

 _Inko smiled at this. With Hitoshi-kun as the only young playmate nearby, Izuku tended pull along some of the staff in the manor to a game or something. They have been very patient and accommodating to her daughter too. She made a mental note to thank and give them bonuses later._

" _So what about the box, Izuku?" Her husband asked, prompting their daughter to continue._

" _It was an accident. I promise!" Izuku suddenly exclaimed. Both parents raised an eyebrow._

" _You tripped again, did you?" Inko deduced and the red flush on her daughter's cheek was more than enough of an indication. Inko chuckled. "Already five years old but you're still my clumsy little Izuku. I'm so glad I still haven't lost my little baby just yet."_

" _Mama… I'm not a baby anymore…" Her daughter whined and then suddenly there was a determined gleam in her eyes. "I'm a grown up now! Really! It's not my fault I tripped this time!"_

" _Oh? Is that so?" Shouta playfully taunted._

" _Yeah! It was the Invisible Boogeyman of Darkness who tripped me!" Izuku looked awfully faithful that it was the truth. "It also summoned the Dust Bunnies to attack me! It's not my fault this time!"_

 _Inko sweat dropped as she saw her usually stoic husband turn around, shoulders shaking and trying his best to reign in his laughter. What probably really happened was that her daughter might have tripped on her own two feet_ _ **again**_ _which disturbed the settled dust in the storage room._

 _Come to think of it, she never really straightened out some of her white lies to her daughter just yet. The Invisible Boogeyman of Darkness was one of the imaginative characters Inko made up to prevent her daughter from venturing out into dark places and the Dust Bunnies were one of the fictional creatures she told her daughter about so that she won't bother the maids while they cleaned the dusty areas of the manor. And her sweet, adorable, and very, very innocent Izuku had believed them down to the last detail. Inko felt a little bit guilty. Just a little bit. Besides, it would be all too soon when her daughter actually grows up and learns of the truth. It would be wonderful to see her daughter's embarrassed face in the future while she retells the times she believed in the very imaginative creatures she came up with on the fly._

" _So you found the box then. Was that right, Izuku?" Inko asked just to change the subject before her husband lost all of his composure._

" _Un" Izuku nodded. "It fell off the shelf. I thought it was pretty and I was curious what was inside. I wanted to open it but I saw your name on the side, Mama. Papa told me not to open boxes if they aren't mine so I brought it here. I wanted to see what was inside. Can you open the box and let me see, Mama?"_

 _Inko smiled. Sometimes, it really amazed her how much influence Shouta had on their daughter. Izuku was undoubtedly a daddy's girl._

 _Then remembering her daughter's request, Inko took the box in her hands and examined it. Just as her daughter told her, she found her name on the side of the box, her maiden name exactly: Midoriya Inko. Inko finally remembered the familiar box. If she remembered it right, then the sketches were inside this box. Inko opened the box and put it on the table to let her husband and daughter see its contents._

" _Mama, you don't look like a grown up! Your hair is long too!" Izuku exclaimed as she saw the colorful drawings. "And who are those other two pretty ladies with you, Mama?"_

 _Shouta furrowed his eyebrows. "Are these the sketches Hizashi drew years ago?"_

 _Inko nodded as she took out the sketches out of the box to give her daughter a closer look. It was a drawing of her and her closest friends when they were fourteen years old. The artist was one of her husband's closest friends (though he would never admit it): Yamada Hizashi._

" _Who are they, Mama?" Izuku repeated._

" _They are my closest friends, Izuku. They had different last names then but now they are called Todoroki Rei and Bakugou Mitsuki. The girl with the white hair is Rei and the other one is Mitsuki."_

" _I didn't know you still had those, Inko." Shouta said._

" _I also didn't." Inko admitted. "I figured out that I somehow lost it when I moved in. I must have somehow misplaced it and one of the maids must have put it in the storage room."_

" _Where did you meet them, Mama?" Izuku asked tugging at Inko's sleeve._

" _I met them at school, Izuku."_

" _School?"_

" _You remember the schools in Yuuei that I told you about, Izuku?"_

" _Hmm… I think it was the school for knights, the school for tacticians and the school for noble ladies and equi- equi- etiget."_

" _It's the school for noble ladies and etiquette, Izuku." Inko corrected her daughter. The military school and etiquette school had been around for years but the tactician school had been recently founded. Tactics were usually a subject taught in military school and it was still taught there but only the basics. The tactician school taught tactics more intensively._

" _Oh. So you met them there, Mama?" Izuku asked again and that broke out Inko out of her musings._

" _Yes, I did. The three of us shared a dorm room in all the years we spent there." Inko replied._

" _Then you became friends?"_

" _Not at first, we didn't. We were too different with each other. We had different upbringings. We had different problems. And we had very different circumstances."_

 _It was a truth that rang through Inko's heart as she remembered her friends and the peculiar but strong friendship they shared._

 _Rei had been the illegitimate child of one of the noble lords in Yuuei. She was raised in Hakuryuu by her mother who eventually lost her life to an incurable illness. It was then that Rei's father became involved in his daughter's life. Her father wasn't really happy with her and of her 'uncivilized' upbringing. Just a few days after Rei moved into her father's care, her father had immediately sent her to boarding school without so much of an explanation or even a glance. Rei came to Yuuei as a lifeless fourteen year old with a void and empty heart._

 _Then there was the rebel Mitsuki. She was the extreme opposite of Rei. She was loud, abrasive and destructive. She had recently lost her mother in an attack prompting her father, the Marques of Yamanashi, to send her away for her protection. Mitsuki didn't like it. She hated it. She hated leaving her father and she hated how powerless she was. She hated that she was more of a liability to her father in his time of need. And she hated it even more that she can't take revenge on the people that took away her mother's life. Mitsuki came to Yuuei as an angry fourteen year old with her heart full of bursting aggression that badly needed an outlet._

 _And then there was Inko, the meek and forgotten daughter of the noble Midoriya family of Shikyuu. She was the middle child, outshone by her elder brother and neglected in favor of her much loved younger sister. Then crisis came to their family and she was even more forgotten than before until they needed a sacrificial lamb to save their family's fortune and prestige. They needed a bride that could be married off to the richest noble they could find and it was Inko they saw. However, they found her lacking and so she was sent to school to brush up her etiquette and turn her into the perfect bride, the perfect sacrificial lamb. Inko came to Yuuei, as a fourteen year old with half a heart glad that she was away from her family and another half terrified of the future that lay before her._

 _The three of them had been very different but they had also one thing in common. Just that one thing. They were girls thrown into a foreign and unknown country without even the least bit of consideration of their own wills and desires._

 _Then Inko felt a tug at her side again. She turned to her daughter who seemed to have another question for her._

" _Then how did you become friends, Mama?"_

 _Inko smiled at her daughter. "It's a bit of a long story but basically, it took us being lost, getting kidnapped and escaping it together to be friends. I'll tell you all of the details when you're much older, Izuku." Some of the details weren't really appropriate for her daughter's innocent mind and tender age._

" _Oh ok. I'd like to hear it when I'm older then, Mama."_

" _Awfully curious, are you, Izuku?"_

 _Then Izuku gave Inko a brilliant smile. "That's because you look so happy talking about them, Mama. I wanna know because they make you really happy!"_

 _Inko couldn't really hold the urge that came over her. She squeezed her daughter to her side and gave her a very affectionate embrace. Izuku could be really adorably perceptive at times._

" _You're right, Izuku. They are the best bestfriends that I could ever have!" Their friendship was a bit messy and it got her into heaps of trouble before but it was something that Inko would never trade for the world. Rei turned out to be a very curious girl and Mitsuki poked her nose and her quirk into anything she found interesting. Inko usually tried to get them out of trouble but, more often than not, she was swept into the trouble itself for futilely trying to reign in her two friends._

 _Inko broke the embrace and her gaze landed on her husband who was smirking at the sight of them so Inko decided to play a little act. "Do you know who drew that picture, Izuku?"_

" _Who?"_

" _Well, he's your Uncle Hizashi and he's your father's bestest best friend in the whole wide world!" Inko said it in the most gushing and the most cooing voice she could muster._

 _Shouta visibly cringed at both the statement and the tone. "That loudmouth is not my best friend and he's not Izuku's uncle either."_

" _Don't believe your father, Izuku. He's just very shy about it."_

 _Shouta glared. Inko chuckled and playfully stuck her tongue at him. Shouta just sighed in defeat. And then his daughter just had to say:_

" _I didn't know Papa was shy."_

 _Shouta had a not-so-wonderful conclusion: the women in his life were ruthless._

" _So then, Papa, you met Mama's friends too?"_

" _Unfortunately" Shouta deadpanned._

 _Izuku tilted her head in curiosity._

" _Mama's friends and Papa just started off on the wrong foot, Izuku." Inko said._

" _Really?"_

" _That barbarian of a woman Mitsuki tried to explode me to oblivion and that ice cube of a woman Rei tried to freeze me for eternity." Shouta muttered. The grumpiness was not lost on his tone._

" _Eh?"_

" _They kinda thought Papa was a bad guy when they first met him." Inko admitted._

 _It was an understatement really. Mitsuki and Rei actually thought that Shouta was a no good lecher who tried to trick and kidnap her and her two friends had attacked him with the intent of killing him or at least leaving him half dead. It was a messy first meeting but it did spark an awkward friendship between her and Shouta and eventually an even more awkward courtship. Despite the awkwardness, it turned out to be the best development and outcome for her. It did take Shouta to hear that she was about to be engaged to another noble just to have him running to Shikyuu with an engagement ring in hand but that's beside the point._

 _A frown wrinkled Izuku's cute little face. "But Papa's not a bad guy."_

" _No, he's not." Inko agreed._

" _Then we should tell them." Izuku said seriously._

 _Inko smiled. Her daughter was really downright adorable._

" _They know now, Izuku. They know Papa's a good guy."_

 _Inko heard Shouta snort in the background._

" _Oh, that's great then!" Izuku clapped her hands. "Where are they now, Mama?"_

" _Well, the both of them are married now. Rei is with her husband Enji-san, the Marques of Shizuoka. That's in Yuusari. And Mitsuki is in Seiryuu with her husband Masaru-san. She lives with his tribe now. They live very far but we do send each other letters frequently."_

" _Did they have daughters too?" Izuku asked._

" _No, they had sons, Izuku."_

" _They're boys?"_

" _They're a year older than you. Rei had Shouto-kun and Mitsuki had Katsuki-kun." Inko said. Then a smile crept up to her face as she remembered the news she planned to tell her daughter during the afternoon. She could only wonder how Izuku could have found that certain box on this very afternoon. Her daughter's luck with certain things was quite mysterious._

" _Would you like to meet them, Izuku?" Inko asked._

" _Yeah, I do!" Izuku's eyes sparkled at the prospect of meeting new friends._

" _Well, meeting Katsuki-kun would have to wait a little bit longer but you'll be meeting Shouto-kun this summer."_

" _Really?!"_

" _The kid will be coming here and staying with us this summer." Shouta informed. "There are still some details to work out though."_

" _He'll be coming here in Yuuei as part of his studies and he'll be spending three summers with us here." Inko confirmed. It was actually one of the reasons why her husband was busy during the week. They were ironing out the details._

" _What about spring, autumn and winter?" Izuku asked._

" _Just summers, Izuku. Shouto-kun has a lot of things to do at home for the rest of the year. But he'll be here the whole summer and the next two summers. Will you be nice and friendly to him, Izuku?"_

" _I will!" Then Izuku's eyes went downcast. "But what about Katsuki, Mama? Will I ever meet him?"_

" _Well, Katsuki-kun is too far away at the moment, Izuku. But don't worry, there's still a lot of time for you to see and meet him. It might not be tomorrow, it might not be soon but you'll meet him someday for sure, Izuku."_

 _A bright smile blossomed on Izuku's face. "I hope so. I want to meet them. Shouto and Katsuki. I want to meet the both of them, Mama."_

* * *

 **(Through the eyes of 16 years old Aizawa Izuku, Present Day, Seiryuu)**

The sound of flapping wings got closer as Uraraka's pegasus landed beside my horse. Mine and Kacchan's really. It was quite the majestic sight watching the elegant flight of a pegusus under the gleam of the full moon.

"Izuku-san, I found some ruins up ahead where we could camp out. There's a stream nearby too." Uraraka said. I asked her if she could find a good place to camp out for the rest of the night. The nearest town was still a few miles up ahead and we couldn't possibly get there on time.

"That's great. Thank you, Uraraka-san. Then please lead us towards it. Fly a bit lower and slower this time."

Uraraka playfully gave me a mock salute and flew ahead. "Roger that, Izuku-san!"

I smiled at her cheerfulness. It was nice to know that someone was still cheerful after the long day we just had.

After spending some hours of rest in the village, we continued our journey towards Yamanashi and this time we had Mei and Uraraka as new companions. Uraraka rode her own pegasus, Mei was riding with Kaminari and Shinku was still chewing out Kirishima's skin. And of course, I still rode a horse with Kacchan sitting at my back. Everyone was tired after the long hours of travel especially this grumpy companion of mine and he's been making it particularly obvious towards me. One, he was getting grumpier than usual. Two, he's been using my head as a head stand and I've been feeling his chin digging on my skull for the last hour. _Really_. Just because he was taller doesn't give him the right to use my head as furniture. Geez.

Then I felt him shift and the next second, I felt his full weight on my back. It wasn't even a bit light.

"Kacchan, you're heavy! Straighten up!"

All he could respond to me was a _growl_. A primitive guttural sound that only beasts could supposedly make. So he doesn't even have the energy to act like a human anymore, huh?

Augh…

I really need to get him off this horse soon or I'll be crushed by his weight before the hour ends.

It's a matter of life and death now.

* * *

I got off the horse and then yelled.

"I am so alive!"

I don't care if it's absolutely shameless or a bit retarded but I am just so glad I'm still alive!

Then Uraraka's cheery voice joined me.

"I'm glad you're still alive too, Izuku-san!"

I happily returned the high five that Uraraka gestured. I can't really help it. I just feel so happy to be alive! To be off that horse! And to have Kacchan finally off me! I'll never take my life for granted ever again!

"Yay!" We both cheered.

"Fucking retards…" I heard Kacchan mutter exhaustedly from the ground. The moment we stopped, Kacchan let his body fall to the ground and even now, he stayed down.

Then I heard Mei's distinctive laugh from the side. She was already off the horse like everyone else and she was stretching her body for a bit. "It was a long ride. I do think we deserve to celebrate for surviving it!"

"Yeah" Kirishima agreed. "I don't think I could even feel my manly ass anymore."

"Kirishima!" Kaminari suddenly exclaimed. He looked scandalized. "You boorish, uncouth ape, there are ladies here!"

"Whoops, sorry."

I tuned out the rest of the conversation as I scanned the surroundings. Uraraka really found us a good place to camp out. Judging from the structure, it seemed to be the remains of a small church. The roof was gone but the flooring and some of the walls were still intact. This would be a lot safer than sleeping out in an open space and looking at the full moon and twinkling stars in the night sky, I doubt that it would rain. Alright. It's time to get settled down.

"Everyone! Let's split up the chores and set up camp!"

I immediately heard the enthusiastic agreement from almost everyone. Almost. Except one. Kacchan's response was rather unique.

"ARRGH! GET THE FUCK OFF ME, SHINKU!"

Oh well. I guess I better just let them roll on the ground for a few more minutes.

I turned to Kirishima. "Kirishima-san, can you-"

A scaly head nuzzled my cheek before I could get another word out. Looks like Shinku finally got off, Kacchan. He's acting spoilt again too. Then suddenly, Shinku snapped up and stopped nuzzling me. He stayed on mid-air as he stared at the forest nearby. What's gotten into him all of a sudden? And then I saw something drip down from Shinku's mouth. Was that drool?

Suddenly, Kacchan quickly stood up. There was an evil grin on his lips and a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Meat"

"What?"

"We'll be having deer meat for dinner, Deku!"

And before I knew it, Kacchan already dashed off into the forest with Shinku closely behind him. What on earth-

"Kirishima-san, please go with Kacchan. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

Kirishima nodded and then he dashed off after Kacchan. I stared at Kirishima's back. I don't know why but I get the feeling that Kirishima was a bit tense around me. Did I do something wrong or was it just my imagination?

"What happened, Izuku-san?" Uraraka asked.

"I don't think even I could answer that, Uraraka-san." I sighed. "Let's just focus on setting up camp tonight, Uraraka-san. Those two are quite strong so I think they'll be fine."

"Alright"

"Can you gather some firewood, Uraraka-san?"

"Sure, Izuku-san."

"Kaminari-san!" I called out which immediately caught Kaminari's attention. "Can you go with-"

"Let me go with her, Izuku-sama." Mei intercepted. "I just have the perfect baby for this kind of thing!" She had strange device on her hand. It was some kind of goggles with some kind of lamp attached to it.

"Um…ok?" Again, I _so_ did not hesitate because I thought she was weird.

With that, Uraraka and Mei left me with the only male member of the group present at the moment.

"Looks like that's taken care of. Kaminari-san, can you help me tow the horses? Then I guess we have to prepare the utensils too."

"It will be my pleasure, Lady Aizawa."

"Thanks, Kaminari-san."

* * *

"I think that's that, Kaminari-san." No one answered. "Kaminari-san?"

Strange. Where did he go? I guess its fine. We were done preparing the utensils anyway.

Mei and Uraraka had also returned a while ago with the firewood. The two of them also made the camp fire so we already had a steady source of heat and light. The two girls were sitting near the campfire talking and I'm sure Kaminari was nearby so all that's missing now was Kacchan, Kirishima and Shinku. I swear I just heard an explosion from the forest too.

I took a step forward intending to join Uraraka and Mei near the campfire but I stopped when I felt something beneath my feet. I looked down. It took me a few seconds to recognize the object clearly because of the darkness but soon it became clear that it was a little notebook. I wonder who dropped it?

I took the notebook off the ground and examined it. I couldn't find a name on the cover so I decided to look through at some of the pages. I expected words but I found pictures instead. They were sketches of sceneries and people. They were really good too.

"AH!" I heard a yell and then I saw Kaminari hurriedly running towards me. "Lady Aizawa, that's-"

"Is this yours', Kaminari-san?" I asked, holding out the notebook towards him.

"Yes, it's mine. Thank you, Lady Aizawa." He took the notebook off my hand. "Did you perhaps see…"

"You mean the sketches? They were really good, Kaminari-san. I didn't know you were a good artist."

For the first time since I met him, I saw Kaminari flush. He was rubbing the back of his head shyly and there was a rather cute smile on his lips. Hmmm… He gives out compliments to ladies like candies but he's weak at taking them? I guess I can't really judge a person by its cover.

"Kaminari-san, have you thought using that talent of yours' as an occupation? Skilled artists are usually well paid for their services and I think you're skilled enough."

Nobles and rich merchants usually hire artists to paint portraits of the members of the family. Some even buy paintings for decorations and depending on the painting, the price could be quite high.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it, Lady Aizawa, but now, I just can't imagine myself as anything other than a knight. My reason's isn't anything fancy or noble but..." He paused for a bit. "It was a bit of whim at first. It was Kirishima who wanted to be a knight and I just went with him because he was the only friend I had growing up and I knew I'd be bored be without him. When we underwent training and I learned how to use a spear, I thought it was really fun learning the techniques. It was like sketching with a bigger pencil."

Well, he was definitely very skilled with a spear. But does he actually consider slashing his enemies with a sharp blade as sketching? Should I be impressed or should I be terrified?

"And then again, it goes back to Kirishima." Kaminari continued.

"Kirishima-san?"

"Yeah, he can be an idiot sometimes, you know. He could go overboard with some things because he thinks it's manly or something like that. He has a bad habit of charging towards the enemies first and thinking about the consequences later. That guy's pretty strong but he's not invincible and so before I knew it, I was fighting enemies off his back. He's an idiot but he's still my friend so I had to keep him alive at least." Then he gave me a playful wink. "And besides, being a knight doesn't hurt your chances with the ladies either."

I replied with a weak laugh. I really don't know about that 'chances with the ladies' thing but it was still nice to know his reasons. I thought he was just a really flirty knight at first but I'm glad there was more to him than that. I gave him a grin. "You're a good guy, Kaminari-san!"

"Um… Thank you, Lady Aizawa?" He seemed a bit confused with the sudden compliment.

"You know, you can call by my name. Mostly everybody does. And people usually use Lady Aizawa to call my mother more than me."

"Oh. Lady Izuku then, if it's fine with you, milady?"

I smiled. "Sure it is, Kaminari-kun."

* * *

Just a few minutes after my conversation with Kaminari, I gaped at Kacchan and the deer that he said he would catch for dinner. He actually did it. Then Shinku flew and snuggled up towards me. Kirishima followed behind.

"Kacchan , just how did you-"

"Believe it or not, Deku but that flying fuck actually had uses."

"Shinku?"

"I don't know how he does it but that shit can find prey like nobody's business."

Come to think of it, Kacchan did say that it was Shinku who found me. Did he think I was prey too? A shiver went down my spine. Maybe it's _a lot_ better if I just don't dwell on it.

"Oi, Deku, hand me the fucking knives. I want to cook this shit up already. I'm starving."

* * *

Dinner was delicious and wonderfully satisfying. I had absolutely no complaints about it. We had grilled deer meat that Kacchan marinated with some sauce and spice mix he made himself using the ingredients and spices we got from the village. We had some soup too since we had some vegetables available.

"Katsuki-sama, I didn't know you were a good cook!" Kirishima said.

"Tell me about it. With Kacchan's rough attitude, I never really thought he could be _so_ good with something as delicate as cooking!" I jested and just a nanosecond after, I froze.

Oh no. I think my brain to mouth filter just broke.

Then death just felt a lot closer. "What was that, Deku?"

Crap. "Nothing, Kacchan. Forget I said anything. Hahaha…"

He smirked. "That's what I thought."

I placed a hand on my beating heart. God, I thought I was gonna die.

"Hey, Uraraka-san, you found some stream nearby, right?" I heard Mei ask.

"I did, Hatsume-san. There was a pool upstream too." Uraraka answered.

"Think we could clean ourselves there? I'm not the neatest woman in the universe but there's only so much dust and dirt that I could take." Mei grimaced as she gestured to smell herself.

"I think I'll join you, Mei-san. I do feel a little dirty. A bath would be nice." I said.

"Count me in too!" Uraraka said, raising her hand cheerfully.

"That's a wonderful idea, ladies!" Kaminari said. "Do you maybe think I could jo-"

An explosion and something no less than a demon's glare stopped Kaminari. "What fuck was that, dipshit?"

Kaminari squeaked. "Nothing, Katsuki-sama!"

Kacchan could be so terrifyingly short-tempered sometimes. I wonder what got him so angry this time though.

"How about you boys go for a bath after we girls are done?" I suggested. "We all had a long day of travel. I'm sure you guys could use one too."

"We'll do that then, Lady Izuku." Kaminari said gratefully but I could see him giving uneasy glances to Kacchan who was still glaring at him.

* * *

After cleaning up the remains of our dinner, I took some things off my bag and hurried towards Mei and Uraraka who would be going to the stream with me. I also held Shinku in my arms. I asked Kacchan if I could give Shinku a bath and he said yes so I brought him with me. We were already half way to the stream when I heard someone huffing behind me. It was Kirishima. Strange. He doesn't look like the type to peek on girls bathing. It was more of Kaminari's thing than his.

"Wait up, Izuku-sama!" He called out. I stopped and so did the girls. When Kirishima finally caught up, he turned to me with a rather serious look on his face. "Izuku-sama, there's something I'd like to talk with you about."

"Uraraka-san, Mei-san, why don't you two go on ahead? And can I leave Shinku to the both of you for a while?" I asked, holding out Shinku towards them. By the look on Kirishima's face, I don't think he would want other people to hear it. The girls clearly understood what I meant and nodded. They took Shinku off my arms and left.

"What is it, Kirishima-san?" So what I felt earlier wasn't just my imagination at all then.

"I'm sorry if this sounds distrustful or if this offends you. I know that your tactics and directions have saved us a lot during the last battles and I know it in my gut that you're a good person but I can't really be too careful. I'd like to hear this personally from you. Izuku-sama, what are your intentions towards Katsuki-sama. You… do have Katsuki-sama's best interests at heart, do you?"

My eyes widened in realization. So this was what has been eating him.

"I know this a very rude question especially now but after…" Kirishima continued. "At first, I thought you were Katsuki-sama's consort so I trusted you to do right by him but after you cleared the misunderstanding… well…"

"So the reasons you thought I was to be fully trusted became untrue then…" I finished the sentence for him.

Kirishima turned his gaze on the ground. "Yes, I'm really sorry about this, Izuku-sama. I…"

I smiled. From the troubled look on his face, I think this was really hard for him but he's still doing it to protect his lord. He's doing it to protect Kacchan and that's something I could never get angry about.

"Kirishima-san, a knight's duty, first and foremost, is to protect your lord so I understand your reasons for asking. I guess it's also my mistake for not telling you." Kirishima lifted his head up and I continued. "To answer your question, well, the lordling you're protecting now, Kacchan, he saved my life. I wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for him. I fell off a cliff on a clumsy mistake and he was the one who found and rescued me. At first, it was just me paying a life debt when I helped him defeat some bandits who came to his settlement shortly after I gained consciousness. For some reason after that, he asked to join me on my journey home but we met you and Kaminari-kun in Hosu. And then, I couldn't really just leave him alone. It may not be what you thought of before but I do care about Kacchan. He's my friend. He matters to me. A lot."

Kirishima's eyes widened in surprise but he wasn't the only one surprised here. Even I was surprised by how easily those words came out of my mouth and how it loudly rang true in my heart. I guess I cared about Kacchan more than I believed I did.

Then Kirishima bowed in a whole ninety degrees. "I AM VERY SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU, IZUKU-SAMA!"

I took a step back at the sudden outburst. I think he just scared off the sleeping birds and the animals nearby. I gently put my hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Kirishima-san. Lift your head up. You did nothing wrong. As I said, I understand your reasons and your doubts so it's fine."

Thankfully, he straightened up at my prompting.

"I'll make it up to you somehow, Izuku-sama." He looked seriously repentant.

"Don't worry about it, Kirishima-san. Just protect Kacchan as you do and I'll consider it even."

Kirishima gave me a very toothy grin. "Your kindness is so manly, Izuku-sama!"

Eh? Manly? Did I just hear it right?

"This time I vow to protect the two of you, Izuku-sama. You and Katsuki-sama. I swear it on my life!"

That stunned me for a bit. Kirishima looked absolutely determined and serious. But, I guess, I couldn't really say no with that kind of face he's making.

"I'm counting on you then, Kirishima-san." I relented.

He gave me a toothy grin and declared: "Leave it to me, Izuku-sama!"

I smiled in reply. All's better now, I think. "I think better go now. I must have kept Uraraka-san and Mei-san waiting."

When he gave a nod, I bid him goodbye and went ahead but there was one last message he wanted to tell me:

"I've wanted to say this for a while but you're really cool, Izuku-sama!"

What was that for?

He left before I could ask though. Oh well.

* * *

I relaxed in the cold water and sighed. The water felt heavenly. The water was cold but it was just at the right temperature to relieve all the stress I compiled during the day. I heard Mei sigh and I realized that she was sitting beside me all this time. I've been really absent-minded to not notice her until now.

"I'm amazed Uraraka-san could swim and move around in this cold water." She commented.

I followed her gaze and saw that Uraraka was happily swimming around to chase Shinku as she tried to get him back in the water. Mei was right. Uraraka looked practically unfazed by the cold water. I think she must be used to the cold. Uraraka came from Hakuryuu and that's a very cold country after all.

There was a splash and Uraraka finally managed to catch Shinku. Shinku didn't look happy though. He continued to struggle against Uraraka as if being in the water was the last thing that he'd ever do. I think Shinku doesn't like to be in the water much or maybe it's the coldness he's bothered about. I managed to bathe him long enough to get him clean though. I think I better tell Uraraka to let him go now or the poor guy's going to be traumatized.

"Uraraka-san, I think you can let go of Shinku now! He's clean enough, I think."

"And come over here, Uraraka-san!" Mei called out. "We're lucky enough to have girl time without those rough men in our midst so let's talk for a while!"

Uraraka waved and finally let Shinku go. Shinku flew away as fast as he could towards a huge boulder where he shook off the cold water in his body. Uraraka swam towards us.

"What do you want to talk about, Hatsume-san?" Uraraka asked.

"That one, of course, Uraraka-san!" Mei said gleefully as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Both I and Uraraka tilted our heads in confusion. That one? What was Mei talking about?

"You don't know? Oh my! What a shame!" Mei cried dramatically. "The moon is shining down on us, the water is coldly enveloping us and we are here! Together! In isolated company! What else are we going to talk about?! Love, of course!"

I don't know why but a bad feeling just sunk down on my stomach.

"So what about it, Uraraka-san? Any sweethearts back at home?" Mei interrogated, going closer to a flustered Uraraka with a sly grin.

I do admit I'm a bit curious though. I'm a girl after all.

Uraraka flailed her hands in front of her obviously flustered by the question. "I don't have anything like that, Hatsume-san! I spent most of my time training so I don't really have time for that and the other trainees are all girls so…"

"I heard about that. All pegusus knights are girls, right, Uraraka-san? The pegasi generally prefers a woman's touch and would usually deny a male rider." I recalled.

"That's right. Izuku-san." Uraraka confirmed. Then she turned to Mei. "What about you, Hatsume-san? You're a traveler then you must have a few lovers of your own."

Uraraka was right. According to what Mei had revealed to me about herself, she had been travelling on her own for a few years now and she's older than me and Uraraka. I think she's probably around the same age as Hii-kun. I guess Uraraka's deduction was sound.

Mei smirked. "So you're coming after me now, huh? But no matter, I shall satisfy curiosity, Uraraka-san."

I'm curious too, Mei-san.

Then Mei paused dramatically. "I did have them. Lovers."

"EH?!" Uraraka and I exclaimed. We were curious but we never really expected a positive answer.

Then I realized something. "Wait a minute. You said 'you did'? You don't have them anymore, Mei-san."

Mei shrugged. "As I've said before, I've been travelling for a few years now but sometimes I settle on a town for a week or so and then go back to travelling again. I sometimes go on dates during those times. It was never serious though. Just a few kisses and maybe a bit of groping but it had never gone further than that." Then Mei grinned, slung an arm around me and Uraraka and then declared proudly. "So technically, I'm as virgin as the two of you! Hahahaha!"

I don't know what to say. I _really_ don't know what to say. But there's one thing I know:

Please! Please! I beg you! Don't talk about virginity anymore, Mei-san! My heart and what's left of my sanity can't take that kind of stress!

Uraraka's practically no better than me. Her body was downright red as if steam could be coming out of her ears any moment now.

Then it seemed as though Mei actually noticed our predicament. "So, you guys, can't take this kind of topic, huh? Then let's talk about a more innocent topic then. Kaminari-kun, Kirishima-kun and Bakugou-sama, which one of them do the two of you have the hots for?"

That's not an innocent topic at all, Mei-san!

Then I heard a gurgling sound.

Oh my god.

Uraraka just fainted.

* * *

After a few minutes of chaos, we finally got an unconscious Uraraka off the water. We dried and dressed ourselves up. We had to do the chore for Uraraka since she still hasn't woken up. Mei volunteered to carry Uraraka on her back and so I was the one who took a now sleeping Shinku off the boulder he slept in. We were trekking our way back when Mei suddenly asked.

"Izuku-sama, I wanted to ask you about this before but with all that's happened I never really had the chance. Why were you, an Aizawa, travelling with Bakugou-sama in the first place?"

It was a valid question and I guess I never really told her. And so I recounted the events up until now: my training, my accident, Kacchan's rescue and our meeting with the two knights in Hosu.

"I see… so that's what happened." Mei said and then she exclaimed. "Ah! I remember now. It's an old rumor but sometimes people still talk about it."

"About what, Mei-san?"

"About the Lady Mitsuki of Yamanashi, Izuku-sama."

"Oh… I think that's not much of a surprise. I mean, a noble lady eloping with a mountain tribe was rather unprecedented."

"That's not all, Izuku-sama. They said that Lady Mitsuki actually refused the hand of a Marques's son to run away with Bakugou-sama's father. And add the discrimination of the nobles to the mountain tribe. It caused a rather big scandal at that time. They've been saying how brainless Lady Mitsuki was to run away with a savage when there was a much better option. Fools, the lot of them. I've traveled all these years and I've met a lot of people. I've known a noble as foul as a sewer rat and I've known a mountain tribe as honorable and dignified as royalty."

No wonder. A noblewoman running away from home wasn't really unheard of but denying another noble's hand in marriage was another issue altogether. Plus the discrimination. People don't usually think much of people different than them and much more of the unknown. The mountain tribe was both. That event was something that caused great shame to both families especially the one who was denied. From what Kirishima and Kaminari told me, Kacchan's grandfather never really cared about it but what about the opposite side of the party? Lady Mitsuki-

Wait a minute. Mitsuki?

I've heard that name before. No. Not just when I met the knights. But before. I think I've heard that name a long time ago.

Then a voice from a distant memory rang on my mind.

" _Well, the both of them are married now. Rei is with her husband Enji-san, the Marques of Shizuoka. That's in Yuusari. And Mitsuki is in Seiryuu with her husband Masaru-san. She lives with his tribe now. They live very far but we do send each other letters frequently."_

Mitsuki?!

Mama's friend Mitsuki!

" _They're a year older than you, Izuku. Rei had Shouto-kun and Mitsuki had Katsuki-kun."_

Then Katsuki… Katsuki was…

" _What was your full name?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Your name. You never did finish introducing yourself to me."_

" _It's Bakugou Katsuki."_

Kacchan…?

"Izuku-sama?" Mei called. "Are you alright? You stopped."

"Oh." I didn't realize I actually stopped but Mei already a few steps ahead of me was evidence enough. "I'm alright, Mei-san. Let's go."

Unbelievable.

Totally unbelievable.

Am I supposed to believe that these of kind of coincidences actually happen?

* * *

The camp fire flickered as I tried to concentrate reading the book on my lap. It was a book I found and bought from Hosu. It had a few advance tactics in the book so I thought it was useful to learn about them for the journey but somehow I just can't seem to concentrate. My thoughts keep coming back to that sudden realization earlier. It was absolutely ridiculous. Kacchan might not actually be _that_ Katsuki. He could be anyone. There could another boy somewhere who lived in Seiryuu, had a woman named Mitsuki for a mother and had the exact same name Katsuki.

Why does that sound even more ridiculous?

"Arrgh! I think I better just go and ask Kacchan before I kill myself thinking about this!"

"Ask me what, Deku?"

I leaned back and turned my head upwards. A drip of water fell on my cheek and a face with a very familiar scowl was looking down on me.

"Kacchan?! You're back already?" I turned away and looked around. "How about Kirishima-kun and Kaminari-kun? Where are they?"

"Back there. Underwater."

"Kacchan, please tell me you did not kill those two while you were bathing."

"I don't want to waste time and effort killing those dipshits, Deku. They were having some kind of stupid contest and they were fucking annoying so I left.

"They're not that bad you know, Kacchan. They're quite nice actually."

He glared and I really don't know what I did to deserve it.

Then Kacchan grunted. "Roundface and shitty eyes?"

Uraraka and Mei? "They're asleep already, Kacchan. I just stayed up to wait for the three of you. And speaking of which, what's with that head of yours', Kacchan? It's dripping wet. Sit here. I'll find a dry towel for you."

I stood up and went over the bags to find a dry towel to use. I found one and so I went back to the camp fire. Kacchan sat there looking silently at the fire. It was supposed to be nothing special but it was a strange sight for me. Kacchan was always so loud and brash so seeing him so silent and pensive was quite the sight. He was just there sitting silently with the fire reflecting his red eyes and his spiky hair was burdened and dripping with water but, for some reason, at that scene, Kacchan seemed so… handsome.

I froze and I felt heat creeping up my cheeks.

No no no no no.

Stop that thought right there.

 _That_ one and _this_ one.

Just what, on earth, was happening to me?!

I shook my head to renew my thoughts. I approached Kacchan and unceremoniously threw the towel on his head. Then I put my hands on it and proceeded to rub off the water off his blond hair.

"Kacchan, I know you're not the most diligent person in the world but could you, at least, dry your hair properly. You'll get sick." I reprimanded.

"I don't get sick, Deku."

"Now, that's bad."

"Ha?"

"You'll be the shining example or, in this case, exploding example of that saying, you know."

"What saying?"

"Oh, you know… that certain saying about colds and idio- Ouch! Kacchan, that hurts!" I swear my cheeks almost fell off before I managed to pry off his fingers. Really. He has no mercy. Towards anybody. Including me, apparently. Especially me.

"Geez. You need to be gentler with ladies, Kacchan."

"Lady? Where? I don't fucking see one here."

"You're so mean, Kacchan." I glared. "With that attitude, you'll never find a wi-"

Kacchan froze.

I froze.

Damn.

We were _so_ not supposed to talk about that. That incident earlier was still rather fresh.

I continued to massage Kacchan's hair and the pregnant silence was getting so uncomfortable until…

"So what do you want to ask about, Deku?"

I hesitated for a bit. It was a rather sensitive topic. "I want to ask something about your mother, about Lady Mitsuki, Kacchan." I blurted out. "I'm sorry-"

"Spit it out, Deku. I don't mind talking about the old hag and I might just forget about her if someone doesn't talk about her soon. That old hag will be rolling in her grave if that happens." Kacchan turned upwards and leveled his gaze to my own. "And I know you're not stupid enough to ask about her death, Deku."

I nodded. Alright, here it goes.

Let the truth set me free and hope it doesn't kill me.

"Kacchan, do you remember if your mother often wrote letters to some friends of hers' maybe?"

Kacchan turned his eyes back to the fire seemingly trying to recall something. "Yeah, she did. Now, that I actually think about it. I think that hag must have written letters to that old man too. And I guess she wrote some shit to some friends of hers too."

I paused for a bit and then continued.

"Who were those friends, Kacchan? Did you know?"

"An ice cube and another woman."

"Ice cube?" Didn't Papa call Auntie Rei 'Ice Cube' sometimes?

"I poked my nose into some of the letters because I was fucking curious and I saw one letter with a 'Dear Ice Cube' as a greeting." Kacchan continued. "The other woman had a weird-ass name though. I think it was Inki? Inko? Yeah, I think that's it. Inko's the name."

My breath felt short and my heartbeat went fast. "Did she tell you something about them? Did she tell you how she met them?"

"Yeah, that hag did. She caught me poking my nose on her letters so after a shitty lecture of not reading her letters, she told about them. She said she met them at some shitty school in Yuuei. The ice cube had a son my age and that Inko woman had a green-haired daughter younger than-" Kacchan stopped. "Oi, Deku, why are you stopping? If you're done, then take that fucking towel off my head. Deku?"

The next moments were hazy. I froze. My hands won't move. Then the bucketload of emotions struck my head and mowed its way towards my heart.

At first, it was disbelief.

" _They're a year older than you, Izuku. Rei had Shouto-kun and Mitsuki had Katsuki-kun."_

No way. Because, I mean, what were the chances? What were the chances of unknowingly crossing paths with him in this huge continent and the crazy amount of people that live in it?

It was in unbelievable.

Next was frustration.

" _Before we state our reasons, we would like to confirm this first. Are you Bakugou Katsuki?"_

" _I am Kaminari Denki and my partner here is Kirishima Eijiro. We are knights that were sent here to find you."_

" _We recognized, Kaminari actually, I mean he recognized you. You look a lot like the portraits of your mother, Lady Mitsuki-"_

For someone who was praised for a brilliant mind, I've been quite stupid. Why didn't I notice it earlier? Why didn't I realize it sooner?

It was disorienting.

Third was joy.

" _What was your full name?"_

" _Huh?"_

" _Your name. You never did finish introducing yourself to me."_

" _It's Bakugou Katsuki."_

" _Katsuki" I tried saying his name and somehow it gave me strange feeling. "Should I call you by your real name now or-"_

No wonder it felt strange.

 _Dear fate, why, why, of all the people in this world, did it have to be him?_

I'm done questioning fate anymore. This time I'm thankful. For all of Kacchan faults and imperfections, I'm actually glad it's him.

It was a delight to meet him.

I pushed away the towel and entangled my hands in his blond locks slightly prodding him to turn his head up. My unbound green hair curtained the sides as I tilted my head down and Kacchan tilted his head up.

I couldn't stop the smile that appeared on my face.

"Would you believe me, if I told you that I've wanted to meet you all my life, Kacchan?"

"What the fuck are you…"

"I'm Aizawa Izuku. I'm the daughter of Aizawa Shouta and Aizawa Inko. I'm a year younger than Shouto and I'm a year younger than Katsuki." My smile widened in glee. "It's nice to finally meet you, Katsuki."

Kacchan's eyes widened. Then his cheeks reddened. "Deku…you…"

I grinned. "It seems that it was really one hell of a coincidence, Kacchan!"

"WHAT THE FUCK, DEKU?!"

"That's my line, Kacchan!"

One second. Just one second and my chin wouldn't have survived that collision.

Who suddenly stands up after that?!

Thank goodness, my instincts of self-preservation kicked in.

I turned my gaze to Kacchan and I found him staring at me. His fist was up his mouth and his face was practically red. I approached him.

"What's gotten into you, Kacchan?"

He stepped back.

"Kacchan?" I stepped forward.

He stepped back.

"What's gotten you so flustered, Kacchan?"

No answer.

"Katsuki?"

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT, DEKU!"

Now, he answers. Wait. Did he actually look redder than before? Was he actually getting sick?

"It's your name. Why can't I call you that?"

"Just don't fucking do it, Deku!"

And now, he turned his back on me. _Nice_. He's absolutely avoiding to look at me.

What did I do now?

I crossed my arms and frowned. "And now, you're just being unreasonable."

Then he mumbled something softly that I almost didn't catch it. "That goddamn old hag…" He said.

I blinked. His mother? Did his mother do something?

"Kacchan?"

No answer.

He's probably gonna be like this for the rest of the night. I guess he wants to be left alone now. However, I do have one more thing to say to him.

I slowly reached for his hand. For a moment, there was a vision of a hand I couldn't reach. Then my hands felt flesh. Kacchan was here even if Shoucchan was not.

Kacchan stilled but he did not swat my hand away so I took the courage to properly hold his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm glad you're Katsuki, Kacchan."

I felt Kacchan tense up. I was about to let go when his hand squeezed mine back. He did not let me go. I smiled. It seems I wasn't the only one who was glad.

Then I turned my gaze to the thousands of twinkling stars above. It was a funny thing. Fate. Did it have me meet Kacchan because I lost Shoucchan that night?

But Kacchan's no replacement and Shoucchan's irreplaceable

Shoucchan was Shouto.

Kacchan was Katsuki.

Dear fate, would it be too much to ask to have them both next to me?

* * *

 **(A few miles away. A certain town in Yuusari. In a certain tavern. On a certain night.)**

"-you listening? Are you listening, Todoroki? Shouto? Todoroki Shouto!"

A rather peculiar young man snapped out of his trance as his friend's voice finally reached him.

"What is it, Iida?"

His friend looked a bit miffed to know that he wasn't listening at all.

His friend, Iida sighed and retold his tale in defeat. "I know we should be heading Yamanashi as soon as possible but I've been hearing bad rumors about a town terrorized by a group of rogue mercenaries. They said they've been 'ruling' the town under the guise of protection against bandits."

"What about the Marques in the area?"

"It's that town near the border. That little town near Kirin Mountain. That mountain is home to ruthless and vicious bandits. No Marques holds power there. I'd like us to stop by there to see if we could help the town. That town is still part of Yuusari. It falls to the Iida House as the leader of the Yuusari League of Territories to protect it."

"It's your call, Iida." Shouto said simply.

Iida sighed again. "You've been thinking about _her_ again."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Not that he could deny it.

Shouto lowered his gaze in his cup. The water reflected his reflection perfectly: his red-white hair, his heterochromatic eyes and the burn scar on the right side of his face.

She never did see his scar.

Not that it'll actually matter.

She'll never see him again no matter how much his heart longed to see her smile again.

* * *

 **(On another part of the world. Yuuei. Aizawa Manor. Aizawa Shouta's office. The following day. Mid-morning)**

Kan Sekijiro, also known by the alias of Vlad King due to his quirk, was one of the noble lords of Yuuei and he was also an occasional guest in Aizawa Shouta's office. Their houses had close ties with each other and that's cemented by a few business ventures that their families had engaged together over the years. And Nishiya Shinji, also known as Kamui Woods, was also another noble lord who was recently let into the partnership. The three of them usually meet up into one of their residences to talk about business and examine the reports once in a while.

For the past hour, the three of them, including the current Lord Aizawa, have been poring over the reports, examining problems, coming up with solutions and talking about business altogether. In fact, they were almost done and Sekijiro will be free for the morning and the rest of the afternoon. Just one last spurt.

Suddenly, Sekijiro heard taps from the window. He looked up to see what it was about and saw that it was messenger bird with a letter attached to it. Sekijiro was quite familiar with that kind of bird since he also used the postal services of Kouda clan. The bird seemed to be an endemic bird from Seiryuu if he wasn't mistaken. Sekijiro glanced at Nishiya but it seems that the man was too engrossed on a certain document.

It wasn't really any of his business to know about Aizawa's postal correspondences but one couldn't really erase the certain curiosity that all humans have. Sekijiro may have been accused of being a vampire for a few times before but he's definitely and absolutely human. And so Sekijiro finds a random document and pretends to read it while sneaking discreet glances at his colleague.

Sekijiro observed that Aizawa had already taken the envelope off the bird and was now reading the back of the envelope probably to know who the sender was. He saw the man's eyes widen slightly before discreetly opening the envelope and putting its contents above the documents he was supposed to be reading. Sekijiro raised an eyebrow.

Now, Kan Sekijiro and Aizawa Shouto may be called friends by some outsider's eye but it wasn't really like that. The two of them just happened to have grown up with together with their families and all. They may be civil and a bit friendly with each other but they mostly treat each other professionally. However, it still can't stop Sekijiro from picking up a few things about the stoic head of the Aizawa House.

One of these things was that Aizawa Shouta was a serious man and therefore acted professionally and so therefore, he wasn't really one to sneak reading some letter over actual work. But Sekijiro also knew there were some exceptions. One was an urgent letter but Sekijiro crossed that out. If it was an urgent letter then Aizawa wouldn't bother being sneaky and discreet. Another exception was if the letter was from his wife and Sekijiro had seen the sweet Lady Aizawa about an hour ago so that was out. That leaves the third exception and probably the most probable one of all. The letter was from his undeniably charming daughter Aizawa Izuku. Sekijiro had known that the not-so-little-now Aizawa had been travelling the continent for a few months to complete her training and it was secretly-not-so-secret that Aizawa Shouta was a doting father.

Sekijiro continued to observe the man and he noticed how the man slumped into his chair and relaxed so the youngest Aizawa must be safe and well. Then Sekijiro noticed a slight frown forming on Aizawa's face and he kept mouthing off some words. Something must have happened and so Sekijiro tried his best to utilize his lip reading skills. Sekijiro caught the words someone, Hosu, knights and Yamanashi. Aizawa's frown deepened. That was not a good sign. Then the Aizawa relaxed again so things seem to be fine again. Then Sekijiro saw the man's eyebrow twitch and he seemed to be annoyed at something too. The young Izuku must have mentioned the King All Might. Sekijiro doesn't exactly know why but Aizawa tends to get a bit annoyed at the fact that All Might dotes on the green-haired young lady and that the said young lady happily accepts it. It must have been a little bout of parental jealousy, Sekijiro concluded. Then Sekijiro saw Aizawa almost slip into a smile. Izuku must have been showing her affections in the letter then.

Sekijiro concluded then that maybe he should stop spying and start working until he felt something deadly in the air.

Then Sekijiro heard papers falling and he turned to see Nishiya abruptly standing up looking cautiously and nervously at something. Sekijiro followed his gaze and he saw a rather horrifying sight.

Aizawa's slightly happy expression had turned downright demonic. The malicious aura slipping from the raven-haired man was no joke and the raw bloodlust in the air was practically overwhelming that it could possibly choke someone.

Sekijiro stood up and gulped.

Fuck. Since Sekijiro knew that Izuku was safe and well, he concluded that there was one possible reason that triggered this disaster. Aizawa Izuku must have met a boy or worse, an actual suitor.

Double fuck because while the young lady was absolutely charming, one should never forget the overprotective red-eyed demon she had for a father.

Triple fuck because Aizawa Shouta obviously had homicidal tendencies rumored to cremate suitors alive and use betrothal contracts as firewood.

And they are so fucked if they don't get out of the room ASAP.

Sekijiro caught Nishiya's eye and they both nodded.

1, 2, 3!

They got out of the office in record time and shut the doors behind them. Sekijiro secured the hinges of the door with his blood-controlling quirk and Nishiya used his wood arm to secure the door. Sekijiro sighed in relief. He truly believed that the barricade could at least last long enough to call over the Lady Aizawa to calm her husband down. That is until…

"Hey, Vlad?"

"Yeah? What?"

"Wasn't there a large window in the office?

"Oh shit."

Make that quadruple fucks. And actually make that infinite when heads starts rolling.

(To be continued)

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **(8 years old Bakugou Katsuki. 9 years ago. Seiryuu. Bakugou clan settlement)**

" _Oi! Come over here for a sec, you fucking brat!"_

 _Katsuki grumbled as he heard his mother's call. He wanted to go play outside already but he knew she'll nag so he comes to her grudgingly._

" _What the fuck is it, old hag?"_

 _SMACK! Katsuki clutched his head. Why did his mother have to be so fucking violent?_

" _You ungrateful spawn, is that the way you talk to your mother?" Katsuki just glared and he saw his mother raise an eyebrow. "Anyway, there's something I'd like to show you, brat. Actually be thankful I'm even actually showing it to you."_

" _Well…" Katsuki stretched out his hand._

" _Stop being so goddamn rude!" His mother yelled._

" _I thought you fucking wanted to show me something!" He yelled back._

 _They glared at each other until his mother conceded._

" _Right… well… remember the friends I told you about?"_

" _You mean your imaginary friends?"_

 _SMACK! Fuck, she hit the same spot!_

" _They're fucking real, you brat!"_

" _So?"_

" _Here." His mother urged his to take a paper off her hand. "Inko sent me a picture of her daughter. The little thing is absolutely the cutest little girl I've ever seen."_

 _Katsuki took the paper on his hands. It was a drawing of a little girl about his age. It was a smiling green haired girl sitting and holding some flowers in a flowery field. Katsuki's eyes widened. The girls he knew were whiny and crybabies but the girl in the drawing was pretty and cute. The green haired little girl was breathtaking._

" _Oi, brat, got a crush on her already?" His old hag of a mother smirked._

 _Katsuki felt a shitty warmth creep up to his cheeks._

" _I fucking don't!" Katsuki vehemently denied. No fucking way. He was not that mushy._

 _The bog-hag snickered. "Your face says otherwise."_

 _Katsuki reddened even more. "Can it, old hag!"_

 _SMACK! Fuck! That was the third time in a row!_

" _Don't fucking talk to me that way, you brat!"_

 _Well, so what if he found the girl cute? So what if he also found her pretty? So what if he thinks she's breathtaking? And so what if he thinks she was like those goddesses that the elder tells in his stories? So what? He was not having a fucking crush on her. He was not fucking mushy even if looking at the girl in the picture makes his stomach feels a little bit mushy. So, no, he doesn't have a crush on her. No fucking way._

* * *

 **To tell you guys the truth, this chapter was supposed to be a _short_ interlude and a break of the fighting and the action. It was meant to show Izuku's interactions with the rest of the group and to strengthen that bonds and maybe reveal some things here and there but then it turned into something else when I started writing. I really had no idea how it got so long this time but I guess it did cover the objectives. The action and the fighting will be back next chapter.**

 **And I'd like to clear something up. The OMAKE(s) at the end of every chapter are PART AND INCLUDED IN THE STORY. They could be letters or short scenes but consider them as something that actually existed and happened in the story. If we compare a chapter to an anime episode, the entries or flashbacks at the beginning of the chapter are scenes before the opening song and the omakes at the end are short clips that sometimes follow after the ending song. I'm sorry if it actually caused confusion. I didn't realize it until a Guest reviewed about it.**

 **To the Guest who reviewed, whoever you are, you have my sincerest thanks for pointing it out. :)**

 **And I give a YES to Harunnah's question in her review. The 'him' in the last chapter was Shouto. I guess the hint turned out to be more vague than I expected.**

 **I really, really enjoyed reading your positive reviews guys! Thanks a lot! They are great motivation for me!**

 **And again, I give a big thank you to the users who put this fic in their favorite list and and the followers. It honestly surprised me when I saw that I hit a hundred of follows. It was a very pleasant surprise though. Arigatou!**

 **Favorite, Follow, and Review!**


	6. Chapter 5 Across

_**Italics are used for Izuku journal entries and as well as flashbacks.**_ **Current events are not.**

* * *

CHAPTER 5

ACROSS

* * *

 **JOURNAL NO. 13**

 **PROPERTY OF AIZAWA IZUKU**

 **Entry #4 Year xxxx, Summer, Day xx**

 _Status Update:_

 _We're already near the border between Seiryuu and Yuusari. By nightfall, we'll be in Yuusari and we'll be stopping by a little town called Kiyashi._

 _So far, we've been travelling at a decent pace. However, we were attacked twice already since leaving the village. The first attack had been late last night and thank goodness we decided to take turns in keeping watch. The second attack just happened around noon. They ambushed us as we passed by. Surprisingly, the attackers were not highly trained assassins but those half-baked brutes of bandits. It wasn't unusual for bandits to attack travelers like us but it was still unsettling. I was really expecting some assassins to come for us by now but so far, other than the ones in Hosu, we haven't encountered any assassins but instead we had numerous bandits attacking us. I didn't realize it at first but most of the bandits' attacks had been centered on Kacchan. It felt like I'm missing something important: something I didn't know but something I was supposed to know. We never really had the chance to ask the bandits since their attacks and numbers were keeping us on our toes. And they were, more or less, unable for questioning when we were done with them._

 _We were still able to defeat them with relative ease though. The numbers may not be on our favor but my companions were still strong quirk users._

 _During the first attack, Uraraka's quirk, Zero Gravity, was quite useful in chucking lethally heavy things (like boulders and huge rocks) on the opponents and during the second attack, Uraraka showed her expertise in hit-in-run tactics with her pegasus and her slim lance. However, the overuse of her quirk could cause her nausea which could actually put her at a disadvantage in long and purely 'grounded' battles that would require the use of her quirk but I think it was weakness that could be worked around on in the future._

 _On the other hand, Kirishima was the tough fighter. Literally. His Hardening quirk doesn't really give him much mobility but his offense and defense was top notch. Receiving a punch from him was like receiving a punch from a rock, or a boulder perhaps, judging from the few dozens of teeth that those bandits lost after fighting him. Despite being a knight who stereotypically fought on a horse, I think Kirishima was more comfortable fighting on the ground using hand-to-hand combat. Kaminari did tell me that Kirishima could decently fight with a sword and in fact, Kirishima had a sword but he somehow lost it by the time we first met them at Hosu. But rather than a sword, I think a hammer or an axe would fit Kirishima's fighting style more. I think I'll ask him next time._

 _As for Kaminari, he showed his proficiency with a spear early on but the problem was that his spear was broken at the moment and he can't use it. He also revealed to me that his spear actually helped him to control his quirk. His quirk, Electrification, was strong but it wasn't something that he could actually control and without control, his quirk could really hurt anyone in the vicinity, be they opponents or allies. He was still good to have though. Without his spear, we resulted to have him act as a human electric eel and stun opponents on contact. He also acted as a strong electric bomb when we were able to properly distance ourselves from him. However, his affliction of momentary retardation after he releases a huge amount of electricity was quite concerning. It was like watching a promisingly cool person transform into a…well…on Kacchan's term: a fucking moron which, I regret to admit, was an appropriate term on this case. On a happier note, he assured me that he could have his spear fixed in Kiyashi. Apparently, it was his mother's hometown and he visited the town from time to time. He told me he knew a good blacksmith residing there that could fix his spear in no time._

 _And then we have Mei. The both of us actually worked on the rear to support the others. Mei was an archer so she was best fighting at a distance. Mei's skill with archery was remarkable and her quirk 'Zoom' worked well with her chosen skill. Her shots were accurate even with moving targets so she really weakened and lessened the enemy's numbers. Another thing to note about her was her 'babies' which were actually different kinds of equipment she invented on her own. They were a bit weird but it seems some of the items were quite useful too._

 _Then there was Kacchan. How do I even begin with him? While there's no denying that Kacchan was strong (he's probably the strongest one within the group), he was also the main target and the one we were supposed to protect above all. I knew he was aware that there were people trying to kill him but I think it conveniently slipped his mind every time the fighting starts. He charged first during the last two battles and quite frankly, his recklessness gave me a mini heart attack. Kacchan was strong, no doubt. His skill with his swords and his quirk, Explosions, were prodigious and his battle senses were a cut above the rest but he wasn't invincible. And there was always that off-chance event when an enemy could sneak up on him and land a lethal blow especially when numbers favored the opposition. However, I also knew that Kacchan wasn't one to back down and I knew his temper well enough that it could end badly if I told him stand back. In the end, a compromise was necessary so I had Kirishima placed nearby enough (as subtly and as often as I could) so that he could easily reach Kacchan the moment that he's in trouble. So far, nothing bad has happened but I'm not taking chances on Kacchan's safety. No matter how strong Kacchan was, he was still the number one target. It's not that I don't trust Kacchan's strength. I just don't trust our enemies. And I can't imagine losing Kacchan. I wouldn't be able to live with it._

 _Lastly, there was me. Tacticians were stereotypically non-combatants. They don't actually fight. Tacticians made plans and preparations prior to a battle if there's time and they stayed in the rear to direct and instruct tactics. In my case, I can't help but join the fight. We were a small group compared to the numbers of our attackers and that means I can't have someone protect me all the time. Fortunately, I was taught basic self-defense by my father and I think I'm good enough with daggers and knives. And I think I did have a decent aim so I could also work with throwing knives, just in case. I also had my Erasure quirk which could provide good support against quirk users. Then I have my second quirk as a last resort. I get too weakened every time I use it so I can't use it in normal circumstances. It was simply not worth it and Kacchan made it quite clear that HE won't be very happy with me if I ever used it without the absolute necessity. During the last two battles, I used my Erasure quirk from the rear and those from the frontlines did the attacking. I also crossed blades with some of the attackers (bandits that managed to sneak from the back and those with troublesome quirks which provided high-mobility) but most of them were finished off by Kacchan. Almost every time that someone engaged me to a fight, Kacchan always appeared out of nowhere to finish them off like he was keeping watch of me and making sure that I don't fight someone long enough for them to land a blow on me. I guess protectiveness went both ways between the two of us. I mean, he did say that he would keep me alive. I think he was making good with his word but there was also this vague feeling inside me that tells me that Kacchan's sudden increase of protectiveness had something to do with what happened last night._

 _And speaking of last night, the revelations were rather…surprising? Mind-blowing? Positively unbelievable? I don't really know how to actually describe it but it did numb my brain for a few minutes there. I mean really, it's not every day that you discover that you've 'accidentally met' someone you've wanted to meet your whole life. It never really occurred to me that it could actually happen. That those super unbelievable coincidences actually happen._

 _Ok._

 _I believe you now, Fate. You can stop laughing now. I know I didn't really believe in you before but now I do. I really, really do so please forgive me for doubting your existence. And would you please be more considerate and gentler with my sanity from now on? It's been rather fragile ever since I met Kacchan._

 _Why did it feel like I actually jinxed something?_

 _Still…to think that Kacchan was actually that 'Katsuki' this whole time… it was rather… I can't really put it into words but I could safely say that I'm glad and happy that it's him. At first, Kacchan was the most unexpected person to rescue a girl like me. Next, he became a friend that I have come to cherish. Then, he became a guardian that worried about my safety and health much more than I do myself. And now, he was the boy that I've apparently wanted to meet all my life._

 _Ever since I've heard of 'Katsuki' from my mother, I have often daydreamed and wondered about him and our meeting 'someday' but I never imagined that I would meet him like this. I'm glad. I'm happy. I'm thankful. And I've been feeling that every time that I call him Kacchan since last night even if he does drive me crazy sometimes._

 _But with Katsuki with me, I can't help but think of Shouto too._

 _I wonder what it would be like if Shoucchan was also with me here. Would he be glad that I finally met 'Katsuki'? Would he be friends with Kacchan too?_

 _I guess all I could do now is wonder._

 _It's been eight years. It's been years eight years since that night. It's been eight years since I last saw Shoucchan. And he clearly doesn't want to see me. My last visit in Shizuoka and the number of unanswered letters I sent throughout the years proved that much. I still can't help but long for him though. Call me shameless for not accepting his wishes but I still want to see him. Years were supposed to mellow that desire but it only made it stronger. True, there was also that dread that bubbled within me through the years but it was nothing compared to my yearning. A part of me was afraid of hearing his reasons. A part of me was scared of the possibility that I may have unknowingly done something so horrible for him to keep his distance from me. And a part of me was dreaded to possibly discover that his reasons were actually justifiable and I'd be losing him all over again._

 _But still…_

 _I want to see him again._

 _I want to talk to him again._

 _I want to hold his hand again._

 _Shoucchan was-_

* * *

"Izuku-sama!"

I shut my journal as I saw Kirishima skipping his way towards me. I was writing under the shade of a tree that protected me from the heat and the glare of the mid-afternoon sun. Our group stopped to rest for a bit and stretch our legs for the long journey ahead. We can't do that non-stop travelling we did yesterday or we'd end up breaking our backs and numbing our butts. Of course, speed was important but it won't mean that much if we hurt ourselves. Horses' saddles weren't that much comfortable to begin with so breaks were, more or less, a necessity.

"Izuku-sama!" Kirishima called again. He was smiling happily and he held a small basket on his hand.

"What do you have there, Kirishima-kun?" I asked.

"I found some wild berries nearby, Izuku-sama. Would you like to have a taste?" Kirishima showed me the contents of the basket and true enough there were delicious-looking wild berries in it.

"I sure hope it won't only be a taste you'll be giving me, Kirishima-kun, because those berries look delicious." I smiled in anticipation. I can't help it. I have a soft spot for good food.

Kirishima playfully pretended to think. "I think I'll consider it if you share your shade with me, Izuku-sama."

I decided to play along. I crossed my arms and pretended to think. "Hmmm… that's a hard one… but fine… If you must insist, then you got yourself a deal, Kirishima-kun." I gave Kirishima a playful grin and we both chuckled as he settled himself beside me.

I took some berries on the basket and popped one in my mouth. It was absolutely delicious. It had a bit of a sour taste but its sweetness was more prominent. It was evident that Kirishima picked the right berries that were properly ripe enough to consume.

I popped another berry in my mouth and relaxed. I scanned my eyes around to see what the others were doing. Kacchan was with the horses. He was fixing the saddle of our horse since he noticed it got a bit loose. Kaminari and Uraraka were playing and throwing berries in the air for Shinku to catch. Then Mei was under the shade of another tree, tinkering with another 'baby' of hers. It looked like a mini crossbow that could be attached to her wrist.

"What's that, Izuku-sama?" Kirishima asked, pointing something at my lap.

I turned to him and then to my lap. "It's my journal, Kirishima-kun."

"Oh…what do you write in it, Izuku-sama?" Kirishima was awfully curious.

"Are you really asking me that, Kirishima-kun?" I gave him a teasing grin and leaned bit closer to give it more effect. "It's a girl's journal, you know. Do you really have the guts to bear the consequences of knowing the contents of this journal, Kirishima-kun~?"

"On second thought, you don't have to tell me, Izuku-sama!" He swiftly refused. He looked a bit terrified to be honest.

Looks like I scared him enough. I let a laugh out at his priceless expression.

"I was just teasing, Kirishima-kun. You don't have to look that scared."

"Oh…" He looked visibly relieved.

"But really, it's just normal journal. I write things that happened so far, people I've met, places I've been, feelings I've felt… It helps me sort out my thoughts." Not to mention, Papa recommended (read: insisted) that I write one just in case my clumsiness ends up giving me memory loss. "Do you write one, Kirishima-kun?"

Kirishima shrugged. "I did before but I keep forgetting to write stuff so I guess I just… stopped."

"Is that so…"

"Were you writing in it just now, Izuku-sama? I thought journals were supposed to be written at the end of the day."

"Normally, yes. I actually wrote my entries at night when I was first starting out but during the months I spent travelling for my fieldwork, it was getting harder to write during the night. I usually find myself too tired to write by the end of the day and the lighting was a problem too. In short, I decided to write in it during the day for convenience. Lighting won't be a problem during the day and I'm energetic enough to write in it. It was simply for practicality and convenience."

"That does sound logical." Kirishima admitted. "Hmmm…"

I popped another berry in my mouth. "Kirishima-kun, is there something else you'd like to ask me?"

Kirishima looked hesitant. His gaze turned to the ground then uncertainly stared back at me. "Umm… Izuku-sama, did something happen between you and Katsuki-sama last night?" Then he nervously flailed his hands in front of him. "I mean… I don't mean to pry, Izuku-sama. You don't have to answer… I mean… ah…"

"Why would you think something happened between us last night, Kirishima-kun?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Well… Katsuki-sama's been acting weird towards you, Izuku-sama." Kirishima looked really worried.

Kacchan was? I mean, I noticed his protectiveness increased but I don't think it was that weird to cause worry.

"What do you mean, Kirishima-kun?"

"It's probably nothing but I noticed Katsuki-sama stealing glances at you when you weren't looking. And it's not just that. He's been muttering about…" Kirishima visibly looked torn as if he doesn't actually want to say it. "Katsuki-sama's been muttering 'goddamn old hag' every time he looked at you." Then his expression turned to concern. "Did you two have a fight? Is Katsuki-sama angry at you? Should I talk to him about it?" Then determination flashed in his eyes. "It's so not manly to insult you, Izuku-sama! I'll make him stop and apologize!"

Then he motioned to stand up and do just that which was so not good considering Kacchan's temper. He was jumping at conclusions too fast. I put my hands on his shoulder to stop and calm him down.

"I don't think that's that, Kirishima-kun. And we didn't have a fight last night if that's what you're thinking." I mean, I don't think so. Kacchan didn't really look that angry with me last night. We argued a little bit but I don't think it was that of a big deal.

"But…" Kirishima looked as if he wanted to protest.

"We didn't fight, Kirishima-kun. At least, I don't think so." I said, firmly.

"Then…" He still looked unconvinced.

"We just discovered something really important last night so it could be the reason why Kacchan's acting so weird."

"Oh…" He looked almost convinced until he seemingly remembered something. "But he's been calling you an old hag, Izuku-sama!"

I shook my head. "I don't think he was referring to me, Kirishima-kun. We actually discovered that my mother Inko and his mother Lady Mitsuki were close friends. And that we've been actually hearing about each other for most of our lives. And I think he was actually referring to his mother. He was also muttering about it last night. I also think Lady Mitsuki might have said something… weird to him… about me… and he was… remembering it?" I stopped at Kirishima's confused stare. I probably mumbled everything again. Oops. I really need to fix this habit.

I cleared my throat to start over again.

"Well, our mothers were apparently close friends and it seemed like they were trading letters over the years. When I was young, my mother used to tell me a lot of stories about her friends and one of them happened to be Lady Mitsuki. She told me about Kacchan and I've been hearing stories about him growing up and it seemed like Lady Mitsuki also told stories about me… to Kacchan. I guess we actually knew about each other before we even really met and we just became aware of that fact last night? Meeting each other in these circumstances was quite unbelievable, that's all… and… I think Kacchan's still processing what actually transpired between us… I think…"

"Oh… that's…" Kirishima blinked. "Should I believe in fate now, Izuku-sama?"

I let out a weak laugh. "It does seem like too much of a coincidence, does it, Kirishima-kun?"

"But if you only knew about it last night… then when Katsuki-sama rescued you and when you decided to travel with Katsuki-sama…"

"We didn't know about it then. Kacchan was Kacchan before I actually knew he was Katsuki and I was Deku the moment I introduced myself to him."

"Then… that's… wow, Izuku-sama!" Kirishima looked evidently impressed.

I chuckled. "Yeah, well-"

BOOM!

That explosion sounded real near. I turned my gaze towards its source sure enough there was Kacchan glaring down at us. And he looked absolutely pissed.

Oh no. Was Kacchan angry at me? Was Kirishima actually right?

"Kacchan?"

"What the fuck are you doing, Deku?" Yup, he was pissed. Royally.

"I'm talking to Kirishima-kun, Kacchan." I answered uneasily. He looked angrier at my reply. Why was he angry again?

"Then why the fuck do you have your fucking hands all over him?" He looked like he was about to pop a vein.

Then I realized he was right. I practically forgot to take my hands off Kirishima. I turned to Kirishima and took my hands off his shoulder. "I'm sorry about that, Kirishima-kun."

"No worries, Izuku-sama." Kirishima answered. He looked a bit nervous.

Then I turned to Kacchan. He looked at lot less angry now which was actually more relieving than I thought. He practically looked like he was about to kill me and Kirishima. Technically, he looked more ready to kill Kirishima than me, for some reason, but that's not the point. I've got to distract him somehow before he blows over.

Then I saw his gaze zero in on the berries that Kirishima offered me.

"Oh" I took some berries in my hand and strode towards Kacchan. "Kirishima-kun found some wild berries, Kacchan. Would you like to have one?" I picked up one berry and reached for his mouth.

Kacchan loosened his glare and looked at the berry apprehensively. Then he opened his mouth to take it.

That was unexpected. I actually anticipated that he'd refuse it.

"Um… Kacchan?" I peered at him in concern. "Are you upset with me about something? Should I ride with Kirishima-kun instead?"

And then he bit my finger.

"KACCHAN! My finger wasn't part of the package!"

"THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP, DEKU!" Kacchan yelled back. And yes, he finally released my finger. And yes, it was fortunately still in one piece.

One second he was calming down and the next second he was so pissed off. Again!

"What's gotten into you, Kacchan?"

Kacchan gritted his teeth and he was stubbornly not meeting my gaze.

I really don't get him sometimes. "If you can't calm down, Kacchan, then I'll give you space and I'll ride with Kiri-"

I was cut off by Kacchan's hand firmly tugging my arm and before I knew it, I was on his shoulder like a sack of rice.

"What the- Kacchan?!"

"Pack up, fuckers, we're going now! We're wasting our fucking time here!" Kacchan hollered to the others. He was totally ignoring me.

I turned to the others and they looked about as flabbergasted as I am.

I slumped in his shoulder and I sighed in defeat. Exasperation had never felt so real.

Then I felt him shift me and the next second, he smoothly deposited me on the horse before he climbed up himself. He took the reins and started off our horse not caring if everyone was following or not.

I gave him a few minutes before trying again. "Kacchan, tell me the truth. Did I do something to upset you? I know your temper's not that good but you won't get angry for no reason. It isn't like you. At all. There's always something that set you off no matter how small."

Kacchan stayed silent.

"Was it about last night?"

Suddenly, his arm was around my waist and I felt him pull me closer against him. Then I felt his nose buried in my hair. I can't help but flush at his unexpected action.

"It wasn't about that shit." I heard him mutter.

"Then what was-"

"It doesn't fucking matter anymore."

What does he mean by that?

"Just drop it, Deku." He said dismissively.

"Fine." I reluctantly agreed "I have one last question though."

"What?"

"Do you have some kind of fetish with fingers, Kacchan? You tried biting my finger last time and this time, you actually bit it. I don't think others would take it kindly if you bite off their fingers, you know. I think Kirishima-kun might not feel your bite with his hardening quirk and all but Kaminari-kun might just electrocute you. And Uraraka-san and Mei-san… Kacchan?"

I turned my gaze towards him and found him looking positively scandalized. Mortified even. Like I suggested he eat poop for dinner.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

I _really_ don't get him sometimes.

* * *

 **(Yuusari. A few distances and a few hours later. Kiyashi.)**

As predicted, we've managed to set foot in the country of Yuusari by nightfall and as we've discussed, we're here in the small town of Kiyashi to settle in for the night. The town of Kiyashi was the closest town to the border between Yuusari and Seiryuu. It was also near Kirin Mountain. The mountain was nothing really special but the inhabitants in there were admittedly quite concerning. It was rumored to be the home of a group of vicious bandits that were known to mercilessly pillage villages.

Kaminari assured me that there was nothing to worry about the bandits though. He admitted that the town was once terrorized by the bandits but some travelers settled in the town years ago and they served as the protectors of the town. Their presence in the small town deterred the bandits from terrorizing it so even if it was a town near the mountain, the bandits often left the town alone.

However…

"Are nights in this town always been this quiet, Kaminari-kun?" I asked.

From what Kaminari told me, the town was fairly lively even for a small one. It was already night time but it wasn't that late. I expected to see people walking around and even some shops that were still open and operating for business but this… I would've thought it was a ghost town if it wasn't for the lights seeping out of the shut windows of almost every house we passed through. It seemed like all the residents in the town were all holed up in their own houses and I could only wonder why. It was eerily silent too. It was too different compared to the description Kaminari gave me and I knew Kaminari wasn't lying. There was no reason for him to lie. It doesn't look like the town was razed or pillaged by bandits though. I'm fairly familiar of their handiwork and this was not it.

But still… The silence of this town was unsettling.

"No…" Kaminari finally replied. "It shouldn't be… It shouldn't be this quiet, Lady Izuku."

"Do you think something's wrong then, Kaminari?" Kirishima asked.

"I'm not sure…" Confusion was plastered all over Kaminari's face.

Suddenly, Kaminari snapped up and he hurriedly drove his horse in what seemed to be a two-storey house. It looked like it was also a store too but it seemed to be closed. Kaminari was already off his horse when we caught up with him and he was examining the closed shop. Unlike the houses we passed by, it seemed empty.

"They should be here…" I heard Kaminari mutter.

"You know who lived here, Kaminari-kun?" Uraraka asked. Strangely, she was the one holding Shinku. Shinku was with Kirishima during the whole travel.

"It was the blacksmith I told you about." Kaminari replied. He looked worried. "He lived here. Him and his three apprentice."

"They must've ditched town then." Kacchan suggested.

"No… can't be…" Kaminari frowned.

"Why not?" Uraraka asked curiously.

Kaminari turned to Uraraka. "They-"

"Well, if they ditched then they left a lot of merchandise here." Mei suddenly interjected. She was peering on one unblocked spot in the store's windows. She had some strangely shaped lamp in her hand that was illuminating the room inside. It was probably one of her so called babies. "They still have their things here and everything. If they ditched town, they should have at least packed up."

I dismounted my horse and went over to Mei. "Can I have a look, Mei-san?"

Mei straightened up. "Sure, Izuku-sama. I'll hold and keep my baby on for you."

"Appreciated, Mei-san."

I peered inside. It seemed to be a typical weapons shop but there were a few things odd about it. For a store, it was too messy. Some of the weapons had fallen over and were cluttered all over the floor. Another odd thing about it was the dust. It was a bit hard to see in the darkness but I could barely make out the settled dust on the weapons. Settled dust meant that those things weren't moved for quite a while and those weapons were not exactly in their right places. And this also meant that whoever lived in this house, haven't been living in this house for a while.

I straightened up and turned to Kaminari. "I don't think they're here, Kaminari-kun. I don't think they're here for quite a while now, honestly."

"So then they-"

I shook my head before Kaminari could say anything. "Let's not jump to conclusions or make any assumptions for now, Kaminari-kun. I don't think we have enough information for now to make a right one."

"Yes, Lady Izuku." Kaminari reluctantly conceded. He looked really worried.

"Then how about we do this: you guide us to the town's inn and settle there for the night. There's bound to be someone who knows what happened here. We could ask them and that way we'll know for sure what actually happened."

Kaminari perked up. "You're right, Lady Izuku. Let's go to the inn then." Kaminari quickly mounted his horse and Mei immediately followed after him since she rode the same horse with him.

I walked over back to my horse. "Kacchan? Something wrong?"

Kacchan had a serious expression on his face that wasn't there before and he was staring at some dark alleyway.

"Kacchan?" I repeated and this time, I got his attention. "Did you see something strange on that alley?"

Instead of answering my question, Kacchan just tugged on my shoulder to prompt me to climb up on the horse which I eventually did. When I settled down, I felt Kacchan's breath near my ear. I felt the hair behind my neck stand up at his proximity.

"Someone's watching us, Deku." Kacchan whispered.

The alarms in my head went off. "Who?"

"I don't fucking now but the shit's too shifty and too skilled for a normal resident. The shit moved and hid the moment I noticed."

"Could it be an assassin?"

"Again, I don't fucking know, Deku but I didn't sense any bloodlust if that's what you're asking. Either the dipshit is too fucking good at hiding his fucking bloodlust or it ain't an assassin at all. This town is fucking weird anyway. It could be anyone."

So Kacchan noticed the town's strangeness too. An uneasy feeling began to bubble up my stomach. I really wish that this foreboding feeling in my stomach meant nothing.

* * *

Kaminari led us to the town's inn which also doubled as a pub and we towed our horses, including Uraraka's pegasus, on a nearby stable. For some reason though, instead of coming with us, Shinku wanted to stay with the rest of the animals and he was happy rubbing himself on the straw so we decided to leave him there. Kacchan just said that he'll come to us when he wants to. And in hindsight, it might have been better idea not to bring Shinku with us to the pub being the odd creature that he was.

When we entered the pub slash inn, all eyes were on us. The occupants of the pub were clearly surprised to see us. The elderly man that was manning the counter was looking at us, eyes wide in surprise and something that I really couldn't tell. There was also a boy no more than ten years old who was handing out drinks. He stopped the moment we entered and his expression mirrored the old man's. As for the customers, there were men, a lot of them but I somehow get the feeling that they may not be the normal residents of this town. One, most of them had weapons on their person and two, most of them were quirk users. All of them were eyeing our group with interest and I felt it increase the moment they spotted Mei, Uraraka and me. The initial unease I felt a while ago doubled.

"Welcome." The elderly man suddenly said. "How may I help you?"

Our group approached the counter and I saw a flicker of recognition in Kaminari's eyes. The man must be someone Kaminari knew but for some reason, the man was avoiding Kaminari's gaze. The man was shifting uncomfortably and his eyes kept cautiously drifting to the other customers in the pub.

"I assume you travelers want a room?" The man asked.

"Yes, plea-"

"Ossan" Kaminari suddenly interjected. I could feel the worry in his voice but it seemed that the old man doesn't exactly welcome it as I a saw panic and dread flash across his eyes.

"Kaminari-kun, what rooms do you think we should take?" I interrupted before Kaminari could continue. I think the old man was trying to pretend not knowing Kaminari for some reason and I don't think those reasons were pleasant either.

I turned my gaze to a confused Kaminari, asking him to play along for now with my eyes and he seemed to get the message as he reluctantly backed down.

"You're the only guests here tonight." The old man said and I can't help but feel that he was insinuating about something. "We have a few single rooms and three twin rooms."

"We'll take those three rooms." Kacchan suddenly said. I gave him a questioning glance and he just glared back at me sending out a clear message that he doesn't want any protests.

Then the man grunted. "Alright"

And so the transactions commenced and I gave the man the right amount of gold and in exchange, he gave us our keys.

"The rooms are upstairs." The old man said and then he called out to the boy who was serving drinks. "Hiro, take some blankets from the storage room and put them on the rooms upstairs."

"Y-yes, grandpa." The boy replied and scrambled. So he was his grandson. It was a bit strange though. I mean, was it normal for kids as young as him to work this late and at a pub no less? Doesn't he have any other employee to help him?

Then I heard Uraraka squeak in surprise. I turned to her direction and saw that she was being approached too closely by one of the male customers of the pub. The man was tall and lean with loose medium length hair.

"Hey sweetheart, heard you were travelers. Staying here for long?"

If his intention wasn't clear the first time he approached then the cliche pick-up line cleared everything up.

Fortunately, it seemed like I wasn't the only who noticed Uraraka's discomfort. Mei had already gotten herself between the guy and Uraraka before the man could advance nearer.

"We were just staying for the night, mister. As you've heard we're travelers. We're just passing through." Mei said.

"That's a shame then but the night is still long. Think you ladies could join us for a drink? The lads are welcome too." Then he gave us a suggestive smile. "Provided you ladies could give us a bit of your time."

The boys of our group didn't really take that statement very well and neither did I and the other girls. Kacchan snarled and Kaminari tensed giving out his hostile mood. Uraraka looked even more uncomfortable while I could see Mei's stiffen. She was subtle about it though. She was trying to hold her ground and remain confident while dealing with the guy.

Kirishima almost surged forward to interfere but I stopped him. A fight might just break out if Kirishima interferes and I don't really want to do it here with the old man and his grandson present. Mei was also handling the situation and she hasn't asked for help yet and she wasn't backing down so I'll trust her to deal with this.

"That's a kind offer but we're too tired, mister, so try your luck next time." Mei said, coolly.

"That next time might just be difficult seeing as you are travelers." The man responded, smirking.

"Too bad. You'll just have to give up then." Mei answered the man's cockiness with her own.

The man narrowed his eyes and then smirked again confidently but before he could say anything more, the old man in the counter had cleared his throat to get our attention.

"The sheets have been carried up to the rooms. I suggest you travellers go up and settle down."

And that gave us the perfect excuse to leave. Kaminari tried to meet the old man's gaze one last time but the old man just refused to meet his eyes and with that, we headed upstairs to our rooms for the night.

* * *

After putting our things in our respective rooms, we convened in the room Uraraka and Mei shared. I was originally there to check if Uraraka was okay but the others eventually followed in with the obvious intent to talk. It was a bit cramped with all of us in the room but it will have to do.

"I don't like those men downstairs, Izuku-san." Uraraka said.

"I don't like them either, Uraraka-san." I replied while Kacchan scoffed beside me.

Kacchan had been rather… cautious, if that's even the right word, with the customers downstairs. The moment we got upstairs, he made his opinions vocal. I can't say I disagree with him though. I'd rather we keep our guard around them. Those men didn't seem very harmless with all their weapons and with the weird atmosphere of this town then it would be best if we take precautionary measures. I just didn't expect that one of those precautionary measures would mean sharing a room with Kacchan. Uraraka and Mei were an obvious pair since they were both unmarried girls and them sharing a room with one of the boys wasn't exactly proper. But then that also left me, also an unmarried girl to share a room with one of the three boys and, for some reason, Kacchan won't let Kirishima and Kaminari near me. Kacchan was adamant on not leaving me unguarded though and I think I couldn't really disagree or deny that when it comes to actual fights, I'm probably the most inexperienced. Not that it made me feel any better.

I've heard people say that regret comes in like a bitter pill and, now, I could affirm how true it was. I should have paid more attention in self-defense. I should have learnt to fight better. I should have-

"Do you know those guys, Kaminari?" Kirishima suddenly asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"No, I haven't seen them before." Kaminari admitted.

"But the bartender" I said. "You know him, right, Kaminari-kun?"

"Yeah, I know him. I know his son and his daughter-in-law. I know his granddaughter and his grandson. I've grown up seeing their family manage this inn and man the pub. And I also know that he was a decent enough old man who doesn't let his youngest grandchild work this late and definitely not in the pub. Unfortunately, I could see that changed-"

A knock interrupted Kaminari's speech and I could immediately sense everyone tense up and increase their guard. But when we expected a gruff man's voice, what permeated through the door instead was a young child's voice sounding so scared and desperate.

"Nii-chan…"

I saw Kaminari's eyes widen and he hurriedly opened the door. In the next second, he had a trembling boy tightly hugging his waist.

"Help… Nii-chan… they…" The little boy sobbed and it somehow struck my heart painfully. "They took kaa-chan… they took onee-chan… then… then… they killed… tou-chan's gone, nii-chan…"

When the boy first hugged Kaminari, I could see the worry and concern in his eyes but now, they overshadowed with rage.

"Who were they, Riku?" Kaminari asked then as if finally composing himself, Kaminari kneeled down to the boy's level. "Tell me who they are."

"It's the-"

The next scene came too fast. There was a loud sound. Then the door and the walls near it were gone. And the debris flew towards us.

For a while, I couldn't really see anything because Kacchan had quickly pulled me to his side and I had closed my eyes on reflex. When I opened them again, Kirishima was on the front with his hardening quirk activated, Kaminari was shielding the boy from damage and Uraraka and Mei had overturned a bed for protection probably with the use of Uraraka's quirk.

"Ladies, we do still insist you join for the evening and I really do hope you agree this time." It was the man who spoke to us from downstairs and behind him were his companions. There were blades like that of a mantis protruding from his arms which was probably his quirk. "Unfortunately, we have to cancel our invitation for the lads. We don't take it lightly when we're stabbed in the back." The man looked pointedly at the little boy in Kaminari's arms.

Kacchan was about to draw his sword when another man came up holding a knife towards the old bartenders neck. The situation just turned for the worst.

"Jii-chan!" The little boy exclaimed.

"And I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you. Blood spurts out plenty from a slit throat and it would be chore to clean up the mess." The man snickered and the other followed like the minions they were. "Think of the poor boy who will have to clean it up then."

Funny he should say that when he just broke the down the door and most of the wall. His threat worked though. We can't exactly attack them back. I really hate it when hostages get involved.

"What do you want?" I steeled my voice as I asked him. I couldn't show weakness now but at the same time, I have to be careful not to set him off.

"The company of you ladies would be one. The lads, well, to be frank, we'd rather like them gone and away. Oh and we'd also like that blonde savage's head if you don't mind. We could always use the extra gold."

They wanted Kacchan's head for gold? Don't tell me, Kacchan had a…

"We don't know what the actual deal is but the blonde savage has a bounty on his pretty little head. Of course, the bounty thing ain't exactly a legally imposed one but who cares as long as we get the gold."

Kacchan had a bounty. A freaking bounty on his head. I knew for a fact that his grand-uncle wanted Kacchan killed and hiring assassins wasn't the only method for the desired outcome. Giran had put a bounty on Kacchan's head and spread that fact to every thug and every bandit and every greedy-

That's why we were attacked so much today.

That bastard!

I didn't realize that I was clenching my fist too hard until I felt Kacchan's hand on mine. Kacchan settled his eyes on me as if telling me to calm down. I averted my gaze from him and I bit my lip. Focus. This was no time to curse in rage. We had to rescue that old man. But how will we-

"My baby!" A voice suddenly exclaimed.

Eh? Mei-san?

Everyone was rightly surprised when Mei suddenly exclaimed something about her baby. Every single eye in the room was looking at her. Why was she yelling about her baby no- Wait a minute… her baby?

"My baby could _reach_ his dreams in a _few more steps_. I know he could. Just that he couldn't let go of my _wrist_ for now. I couldn't. I just need to be _near_ -"

Reach… a few more steps… wrist… near…

Mei wasn't definitely spouting nonsense.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Lass, we don't really have much interest in your kid. You can come over and we promise we won't hurt you or your kid."

I turned to Kacchan and whispered. "Kacchan, when the knife is out of the way I want you to get the old man. I'll erase those men's quirks for a few seconds so I want to the old man out of the way as fast as you can."

"You promise?" Mei said, acting scared.

"Yes, we promise. Cross our hearts."

Mei took a few steps towards them and when she was a right down the middle of the room. She flicked her wrist and some metal sprung out of it knocking the knife out of the hostage taker.

Then Kacchan followed my instructions. With a boost from his quirk, he flew towards the men, pulled the man aside while I erased their quirks.

When I confirmed that Kacchan and the old man was out of the way, I turned to Uraraka.

"Throw the bed at them, Uraraka-san!"

And that signaled the start of the fight.

Kaminari immediately took over protecting the old man and his grandson electrocuting anybody that came near. Kirishima started to bash heads and punch faces. Kacchan was attacking with his explosions. Mei was using a candelabrum she grabbed from a desk as a weapon. Uraraka was throwing a handful of usually heavy things. Meanwhile, I had my dagger out and my erasure quirk activated to slash every opponent near me.

A quick glance and I knew we were winning.

But we didn't quite reach absolute victory.

There was a blast and it didn't come from Kacchan. The window along with the wall was blasted off by some strong force. There was smoke. There was rubble. The next thing I saw was Uraraka unconscious with blood dripping on her forehead. Then there was a masked man attached on the claws of some kind of flying creature that looked like a cross between a man and a bat.

He said a few words.

And then-

* * *

 **(Just a few miles. Very near to Kiyashi)**

When Iida had said that they would be stopping by Kiyashi to take care of a few rogue mercenaries, Todoroki Shouto wasn't expecting the sound of explosions and the sight of a blonde boy soaring through the night sky trying to reach a man attached to some kind of flying creature.

In a split second, the boy was slammed back down with the creature's tail. Iida immediately told him to hurry as they witnessed the scene and they both hurried to the town and when they did, they were both shocked to find the second floor of an inn damaged and littered with rubble. Then they spotted the boy who was recklessly chasing the creature in the air.

Fortunately, the boy was still alive but it looks as if he wanted to chase the flying creature again even with his injuries. A red headed knight was stopping the blonde boy from doing anything further.

"Stop it, Katsuki-sama! You're too injured!" The red-headed knight said as held the blonde boy down.

"Shut your fucking trap, shitty hair and let me go! They took Deku! Those fucking bastards took Deku!" The blonde boy was obviously too enraged to care about his injuries.

Iida was asking and demanding answers from everybody present but the situation was still too chaotic.

Looking at the boy, Shouto could surmise that this 'Deku' person was taken. The boy looked so distraught that Shouto concluded that this 'Deku' person was probably very important to the boy.

Then Shouto looked back at the night sky. The flying creature was nowhere to be seen now and somehow Shouto couldn't shake the feeling that something important was taken from him too.

And he could only wonder why.

* * *

 **(Many, many miles away. Yuuei. A few hours ago.)**

Aizawa Inko was attending a social function hosted by another noble lady of Yuuei. She was enjoying herself quite a bit and she wouldn't have minded staying a few more hours longer if it wasn't for a desperate and panicking messenger (who was surprisingly Nishiya) saying that her presence was desperately needed back at the castle and that she needed to stop the king and her husband and oddly enough, her husband's cousin who was also her daughter's mentor. Inko tried to ask the circumstances but the messenger was panicking too much to actually answer her but what she got from him was something about a letter and that she needed to stop those men before they zoom away to Yuusari. Inko raised an eyebrow in confusion.

However, she couldn't really ignore the messenger's pleading and so she really had no choice but to leave the social function early and head to the castle.

When Inko was near enough, she didn't expect to see her husband, the king and her daughter's mentor on horseback obviously going somewhere with a few guards after them.

Inko called after them and when they didn't stop, she sternly and _sweetly_ requested the carriage driver to go fast and intercept them by any means possible which was ignoring the road and taking a shortcut at the round-about pathways of the front lawn of the castle.

The three men those who were after them just stopped in time to prevent a collision. Inko got out of the carriage and _smiled_ at the three men who were considered quite high on the kingdom's hierarchy.

"Are you going somewhere Shouta, Toshinori-sama, Nighteye-san? You seem to be in a hurry and I would love to hear why."

Shouta had frozen at the sight of her and the two other men began to fidget at her smile. Then the three of them spoke at the same time.

Nighteye had his hand immediately going for his eyeglasses, trying to hide his panic. "It has come to my attention that my niece met a young man-"

All Might, the supposed to be mighty king of the kingdom, sputtered. "Izuku! Inko-san, Izuku is- A boy!"

Shouta announced, in a tone so dead, it sounded like it came from the dead. "I need to kill my daughter's husband, Inko."

Inko sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Really. Those men. To think they were respectable men known for their calculated planning and sound decisions and then at the slightest development of her daughter's love life and they come out running like impulsive idiots.

So what if Izuku met a boy? It was bound to happen on her journey, it's not as if she got herself mar-

Wait a minute.

"What did you just say, Shouta?"

"I'm heading out to kill our daughter's husband, Inko." Shouta repeated in the same tone of the dead.

Oh.

So Shouta just wanted to kill her daughter's hus-

Wait, what?

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **(6 years old Todoroki Shouto, 11 years ago, Summer, Yuusari, Shizuoka)**

" _What are you reading, mother?" Shouto asked as he approached his mother's vanity table. "You're smiling."_

" _Shouto." His mother smiled as she turned to him. Then she opened her arms and gestured for him to sit on her lap._

 _Shouto eagerly sat on his mother's lap. Mother had always given him the best hugs and she hugs him a lot when he was on her lap. Shouto happily expected and accepted his mother's hug then he looked at the paper his mother was reading._

" _What's that, mother?" He asked again._

" _Oh, it's a letter from a dear friend of mine." His mother answered. "A noisy tiger was supposed to send me a letter too but it seems her letter would be late again."_

" _A noisy tiger?" Shouto tilted his head. He didn't know animals could write._

" _Yes, a tiger, Shouto. A blonde tiger living in Seiryuu at the moment."_

" _Oh."_

 _Mother was really amazing. She made friends with a tiger and the tiger writes her letters. Shouto wondered if he could befriend a tiger too and then maybe he would get letters too._

" _What was the letter about, mother?"_

" _My friend was telling me about her daughter." His mother replied. "She tells me she's the cutest thing in the world with her green hair, big green eyes and freckles on her cheek."_

" _Freckles?"_

" _She said they were like little stars on the night sky."_

 _Shouto pondered. How could someone have stars on their face?_

" _Would you like to meet her, Shouto? She could be your friend, you know."_

 _A friend? Shouto doesn't know if he would like another friend. He already had Tenya for a friend and he was noisy. He was noisy enough. He's weird sometimes too. Tenya's hobby seemed to be chopping air and Shouto couldn't really figure out why._

 _But he really wanted to see the stars. He wanted to know how stars looked like on someone's face._

 _He wants to meet her, Shouto decided._

" _Yes, mother."_

" _Yes, what?"_

" _I'd like to meet her."_

" _That's great then." His mother smiled. "I'll just send a letter to Inko and see if we could arrange something next summer and maybe you could meet little Izuku then."_

 _So her name was Izuku?_

 _Shouto thought it sounded nice._

* * *

 **Hey guys! Surprise! I'm still apparently alive!**

 **I'm really, really, really sorry about the lateness of this chapter. My academic studies had been quite harsh for awhile and the main reason for the lateness was the bloody menace called a writer's block that I had a hard time getting rid of. I usually set objectives and outcomes for every chapter but I practically got stuck with the execution.**

 **There are still some parts of this chapter that I'm still not satisfied about but I feel like I really need to get over this chapter. I don't want to spend another week thinking about this chapter, really. I just want to move on to next chapters already. I did my best at the moment though. I may revisit this chapter in the future and tweak some things but the outcome will still be the same though. I'll inform you guys if it happens. :)**

 **Also if you find any errors, you are welcome to inform me about them but I would really like to know what you think about the chapter and the story so far.**

 **Oh and Risaya inquired something on her review which was about a month ago. It has really been so long.**

 **Risaya had asked: W** **ho's the main pairing in your story? KatsuxDeku or TodoxDeku?** **Or is it love triangle?**

 **The most accurate answer I could give now is that the story is going towards a love triangle at the moment. I love both the KatsuDeku and the TodoDeku pairings and I don't really know which one I favor the most at the moment. I don't really plan the romantic development ahead. I think and write as I go along the story. And besides, it seems like a downer to have a predetermined pairing at the opposite circumstances I made for the story: Shouto was the childhood friend and Katsuki was the new guy. I really want to see how this would turn out and see how I could develop it further. Uncertain feelings and uncertain pairings is kinda part of the thrill for me. ;)**

 **As usual a big thank you to favorite-rs, I don't think that's even a word, but still a big thank you to you guys. It was pleasant surprise to see that I finally reached a hundred. Then another big thank you for the followers and a special thank you for the reviewers. You guys really motivated me a lot to get over my writer's block and write this chapter as fast as I can. You guys are awesome!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as usual...**

 **Favorite, Follow and Review!**


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